


Masks, Crowns, and Ball Gowns

by MsDizzyDahlia



Series: Ball Gown AU [1]
Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Aromantic Asexual Logic | Logan Sanders, Asexual Morality | Patton Sanders, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fem!Sides, Lola is done with everyone, M/M, Magic, Mentions of child neglect, No Smut, Original Character(s), Ramona can't take a hint, Royalty, Running Away, Trans Sleep | Remy Sanders, Virgo is so awkward it's adorable, self deprecation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 74,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25823860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsDizzyDahlia/pseuds/MsDizzyDahlia
Summary: Ramona Crowne, a princess being courted by nearly every guy her age, despite being attracted to womenRema Crowne, a princess promised to a stranger. How to explain to her parents that she has eyes for someone else?Pamela Heart, a shy girl, whose crush on the older of the two Payne sisters is going to lead to heartbreak.Lola Payne, a girl with far too many suitors and no interest in any of themVirgo Storm, the daughter of a disgraced and deceased lord; the only thing darker than her soul is her reputationJanice Lyre, an ambitious young lady who will settle for no less than the crown princess herselfEmily Picani, the newly made fiancé to the younger Payne sister, and the court sweetheartRenae Payne, the court gossip, who knows everything about everyoneEight girls walk into a party, and then their lives are changed forever.(If it isn't clear, this is a gender bent royalty au romance)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, QPR Logicality
Series: Ball Gown AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873732
Comments: 50
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ramona - Roman  
> Rema - Remus  
> Lola - Logan  
> Pamela - Patton  
> Virgo - Virgil  
> Janice - Janus  
> Emily - Emma  
> Renae - Remy
> 
> (I don't think there are any warnings for this chapter. If there's anything you think I should add feel free to let me know in the comments)

Princess Ramona Crowne was dying. No, not literally, but she certainly felt like she was. She had been listening to this random lord whose name she didn’t even remember talk about agriculture for about thirty minutes now, and it didn’t seem likely that he was going to stop soon. He was clearly trying to interest her, he probably had a son that he wanted to introduce to her, but she was so not interested.

For one thing, Ramona wasn’t interested in men. The court didn’t seem to understand that though, and thus nearly every boy her age had been coming after her. For another thing, romance wasn’t something you could rush, nor was sexuality something that she could change. She could change her labels around all she wanted, but which gender she had eyes for would never change. She liked girls, there was nothing you could do about that.

She barely stifled a yawn, and her eyes drifted around the ballroom. Her parents loved to hold these parties, and don’t misunderstand her, she loved attending them, it was an excuse to dress up and actually put effort into her looks, something she liked to do but didn’t do very often for whatever reason. She could be kind of lazy sometimes, sue her. But with all these suitors, she was constantly swarmed with men, and even a few ladies. The ladies weren’t bad, she wouldn’t mind courting one of them. Now if only they wanted to be with her for reasons other than her status.

The courtiers were all dolled up, just like she was, but somehow, their attempts to make themselves stand out only made them blend in even more. Therefore, the people who caught her attention were the ones who were wearing simple designs. Such as Renae Payne. Her dress was a buttery yellow and flowed elegantly. It was a very simple design, a sleeveless turtleneck top and a bottom that made it to the floor, puddling slightly on the ground. The color looked good on her, as did the brown leather jacket hanging off her shoulders.

Hanging off Renae’s arm was Emily Picani, her new fiance. They had only gotten engaged two weeks prior. Ramona smiled subtly at the sight of them. They were such a cute and affectionate couple, and unlike many, they were marrying for love. Renae’s parents were powerful, after all. They could afford it. Lord and Lady Payne were good friends of her parents, and their daughter Lola was good friends with Ramona and her sister, Rema.

Renae was holding a glass in her hand filled with red wine. If she wasn’t already, she would soon be black out drunk, just like at every party. Emily was fretting over her, attempting to separate the wine glass from her fiance’s hand, but her attempts were fruitless. Ramona rolled her eyes fondly and continued looking through the crowd. She noticed a particular courtier in a simple pale green and blue dress that would have been shapeless, if not for the belt tied around her waist. She was quite pretty, with bouncy blonde curls and a very fair complexion. Certainly not Ramona’s type, but pretty nonetheless. She was facing away from Ramona, but Ramona could still spy a few freckles. Ramona watched as Emily noticed her and left Renae’s side to go talk to her.

Ramona looked for Lola among the crowd, but couldn’t find her. She had probably ditched the party in favor of spending more time in the library. That was where she spent most of her time, after all. Or she was simply back in her room trying to avoid her suitors. After all, Lola was getting more than her fair share of those as well. If they couldn’t aim for one of the princesses, they might as well go with the next best thing.

Speaking of, Ramona watched her sister barrel across the room like the devil was on her heels. She heard shouting and looked over to see a man whose suit had just been ruined, covered in wine, presumably by Rema. Rema was an absolute wildcard, nobody knew what she was going to do or how she was going to react to something. Ramona figured it was probably one of the reasons she had hardly any suitors. Realistically though, she knew that it was because of Rema’s position as heir to the throne. Technically, her sister was older than her by ten minutes. How they managed to keep that straight when they were just babies was beyond Ramona, and she didn’t care enough to find out. She averted her eyes from the commotion, that was Rema’s problem to deal with, and kept scanning the crowd.

After a few minutes, she gave up on her search from her friend and turned back to the lord, she flashed the grin that made all the boys go crazy, before politely excusing herself. The look of surprise on the lord’s face was laughable, even more so when it turned into a look of offense. It wasn’t his fault, Ramona just wasn’t interested in that sort of thing. She didn’t understand why anyone would be. Well, sure agriculture was important, but a party was not the right scene to talk about it. She started walking towards Renae, her red skirt swishing as she moved her feet in the satisfying sort of way that she lived for. Her skirt had been made for dancing, it was the kind that would swish around if you spun around, revealing orange and yellow accents so that it looked like fire.

Renae noticed her and waved, motioning her to come closer. She still looked sober enough, but there was a red flush on her face that made Ramona think otherwise.  
“Hey Princess~” Renae giggled like a child, and Ramona’s suspicions were confirmed. She wasn’t too drunk yet, so that was something, but it would still be hard to have a conversation with her.

“Hey Renae. Have you seen Lola?” Renae shrugged and tipped her head back, looking up at the ceiling.

“Nah, I haven’t seen her. ‘S probably in her room again… the coward.” Ramona rolled her eyes. They both knew that Lola was anything but a coward. Still, she didn’t say anything and once again her eyes wandered, this time looking at the decoration on the walls. She knew these paintings, they were nothing new, of course, but Ramona was starting to get bored and she was looking for a conversation topic. God she wished Lola were here, she always had more than enough conversation starters.

“So.” Ramona coughed into her hand. “How’s the party been going?”

“Oh it’s been grrrreat. Why don’t your parents do thiss more often?”

“You kidding? I don’t think they could have these things more often if they tried.” A new voice answered. Rema was approaching them, a devilish grin on her face.

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.” Rema rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her absolutely ruined bun, completely pulling it out and shaking her ribbon curls.

“That’s because it is! I wouldn’t mind them if they were more interesting, but they’re just so boring. We should have an arena event or something like that where anyone who wants to can just go and beat the crap out of one another and everyone else watches. Now that’s what I call entertainment.” Ramona sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“It’s called sparring practice.” Rema giggled, her smile widening to the point where it was starting to look a little manic.

“Yeah, but this would be public. You know, controlled violence. You couldn’t tell me that wouldn’t be fun to watch.” Ramona laughed and took a cup off the tray of a passing servant.

“You’re not wrong.” She admitted, taking a sip. “I would pay to see something like that.” Rema laughed and nodded. Renae was grinning and looking at the two of them.

“They have something like that but it’s on horses. It’s called jousting, ever heard of it?” Renae slurred. The twins looked at one another and shrugged. Of course Ramona had heard of it, but then again, they had never seen it. Their parents hadn’t thought it appropriate for “Ladies” to see. Ramona rolled her eyes at the thought. She spent hours on the sparring grounds, she wouldn’t mind jousting.

She scanned the room one last time, looking for Lola in case she had missed her the first time around. She still didn’t find her, but her attention was drawn elsewhere. In the corner of the room, away from everyone else, was the most beautiful woman Ramona had ever seen. She had raven hair that almost had a purple tint to it and dark eyes. Her skin was so pale it was practically white, and Ramona wondered if she ever went outside. She was wearing a simple black dress with bruise purple detailing, and her hair was down, falling in front of her face. She was stunning.

Rema noticed her gaze and followed it to see where she was looking. She raised an eyebrow when she saw who her twin was staring at, and gave her the equivalent of the ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) face in real life. Ramona wasn’t paying attention to her, though. All of her focus was on this one girl in the corner of the room.

Ramona watched as another girl came up to her, and the two of them started talking. She recognized the second courtier as Janice Lyre, daughter of Alex Lyre and the late Delia Lyre. Her fluffy bob cut made her particularly identifiable, not many ladies chose to keep their hair so short, but the real reason Ramona could tell it was her was because of her eyes. One of them was a dark chocolatey brown, while the other was honey colored, bordering on gold. Ramona glanced over to her sister to see Rema’s face go slack. She smirked, almost laughing aloud, because her sister was so clearly infatuated by this woman, and had been for a while now.

“You should go talk to her.” Ramona nudged her sister. Rema snapped out of her daze, and turned to look at Ramona like she was crazy.

“What’s the point? It’ll never happen. You know Mom and Dad are going to set me up with someone at some point, so I might as well try to avoid catching feelings for someone else in the process.” Ramona rolled her eyes. It was clear Rema had failed in her goal. She clearly had feelings for the woman. And she knew that, but it was kind of stupid. She always felt bad complaining about her suitors to Rema, considering the fact that at least she had a choice. That was a luxury only presented to the younger child, and though there was always a chance that she would get set up in a loveless relationship, it wasn’t set in stone.

“I’m going to get something to eat.” Ramona wasn’t sure if her sister was talking about grabbing a whole tray of snacks from one of the servants or raiding the kitchen, but either way was going to be chaos, and she didn’t want any part of it. Rema waved and walked off, quickly being swallowed by the crowd of people. Renae still hadn’t moved, but Emily was coming back over from her talk with the blonde courtier. She smiled when she saw Ramona and bowed her head. Ramona smiled at her, but then turned her gaze back to the girl in the corner.

“Hey Renae? Who… who is that over there?” She motioned to the girl, and Renae turned to look at them.

“Which one? The poofy one or the emo one?” Ramona snorted.

“The emo one. I know who Janice Lyre is. Who doesn’t?” Janice commanded respect. She was known in the court for her snarky personality, slyness, unusual appearance and eidetic memory, but she was known more to Ramona as Lola’s rival. She had asked Lola a few times about the exact nature of her rivalry with Janice, but none of the descriptions Lola gave were what she was looking for. Really she wanted to know if there were feelings beyond the rivalry, if it was in any way romantic. If it was, good for her, but she had never said anything about it to Ramona, and they told each other everything. All she knew was that they were friendly rivals competing for the position of “smartest girl in the court.”

“Oh, her? That’sss Lady Storm. She’sss the daughter of Lord Storm, who was executed ‘bout two years ago for treas’n and using black magic and all that jazz.” The fact that Renae could recite those facts even when she was drunk was just a tad bit terrifying, but Ramona ignored that fact in favor of gawking.

“You mean that’s his daughter? She’s so… so… pretty!” Emily laughed lightly. Ramona remembered Lord Storm. He had been a sour man, very dark and overall suspicious, so Ramona hadn’t been all that surprised when he was discovered to have fed information to enemy soldiers in a war that happened nearly ten years ago. She had been relatively surprised to hear that he had also been accused of having black magic. Apparently someone had found a spell book in his quarters and he had admitted to it.

“There are rumors going around that she’ss following in her father’s footsteps.” Renae continued. “But there’s no evidence beyond her unusual taste in clothing. She ‘n Janice are step sisters.” Ramona tilted her head to the side.

“I’m going to go talk to her.” Renae frowned, as if processing what Ramona had said. Emily gently placed a hand on Renae’s shoulder.

“Alright, good luck Ramona. We’ll talk to you later.” Ramona flashed a grin, and Renae and Emily turned and walked away.

Renae turned and shouted “Later babes!” over her shoulder. At least now Renae had someone to look out for her. Whether or not Emily would be successful in toning down the alcohol was yet to be seen. Ramona watched as someone called for Lady Lyre, and she called back, quickly turning back to Lady Storm and whispering something. Storm nodded and Janice hurried away, leaving Storm on her own. Ramona slowly approached her, grabbing another glass off of a tray for her. When she was about ten feet away from her, Storm seemed to notice her, and immediately tensed up. Her arms were crossed, her hands gripping her forearms, and the grip tightened ever so slightly.

“Hello.” Ramona said cheerfully, flashing a smile that would have made anyone else go mad. Storm only seemed to tighten up more. She didn’t say anything, turning away but not completely, as if she hoped Ramona would go somewhere else. Ramona furrowed her brow. She wasn’t used to people reacting to her like this.

“I’m Ramona.” She tried again. Storm stayed silent for a moment before muttering something under her breath, so quiet that Ramona couldn’t hear it. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Storm quickly glanced back over to her before speaking again, slightly louder.

“I said I know who you are, Princess.” Ramona offered another smile. Well, at least she was talking to her. She waited another moment, but that was all that Storm said.

“And you are?” Ramona prompted. Jesus this was like talking to a brick wall. Storm didn’t answer, pursing her lips together and glancing over Ramona’s shoulder, presumably at Janice. Ramona sighed. “If you don’t tell me what to call you I’m going to have to resort to nicknames. And something tells me that you’re not that type.” Storm sent her a dark look that would have sent anyone else screaming towards the hills. Finally, Storm broke eye contact and sighed.

“Virgo.” It was only one word, but it was everything.

“Virgo.” Ramona tested it out, stretching out the syllables. She liked the way it sounded, and the way it rolled off the tongue. Virgo looked like she was expecting Ramona to make fun of her. “Like the star sign?” She looked up and blinked a couple of times.

“...Yes.” Ramona smiled at her. It wasn’t one of the charming smiles that won hearts. It was a genuine, slightly giddy smile.

“It’s a beautiful name.” Virgo’s eyes widened, and she physically took a step back. Clearly whatever response she had been expecting, it hadn’t been that. Her shoulders lowered ever so slightly.

“Um… thank you… My… my father chose it.” Ramona tilted her head to the side.

“The one who was executed, right?” Virgo tensed up again, and Ramona cursed herself. “Oh my- that- that was stupid. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” She remembered the drink in her hand, and held it out. Virgo eyed it suspiciously, but took it. Ramona took a sip of her own drink, staring over the rim of her glass to see if Virgo would do the same. She didn’t. Ramona sighed internally. She was such an idiot.

Ramona lowered her glass, and noticed that Virgo was gripping her skirt with her free hand, avoiding eye contact. She was clearly making this girl uncomfortable, so Ramona reluctantly gave up. She wasn’t going to get anywhere after that slip up.

“Alright, well, it was nice to meet you Virgo. Can I call you Virgo?” Virgo shrugged.

“If you want to. I mean, I don’t really care.” Ramona smiled.

“Alright, Virgo then. I’m going to head in for the night.” She offered a tired smile, and Virgo didn’t return it.

“Yeah yeah, whatever, Princess. Have a goodnight or whatever.” Ramona’s eyes widened slightly at the somewhat rude response. This had to be the only person in the entire court who would act hostile to the princess’s face. The only one who would resist her advances. And it felt so good. It was a breath of fresh air. Someone who wouldn’t treat her like an object, or a prize to be won. Someone who would actually talk to and treat her as a real person. Someone who wouldn’t try to befriend her solely because of her status. But, she was still going to leave the party. She was done for the night.

Ramona turned and started walking off, looking over her shoulder and waving one last time. Well, not really. She kept looking back every few steps. Was she being too obvious? Was she really that desperate? She decided she didn’t care. She saw Janice walking back over to Virgo and talking to her. Ramona wasn’t tired, not really. But it was clear that as long as she was in the same room as Virgo, she would be uncomfortable. She didn’t want this gorgeous woman to feel uncomfortable, so if leaving soothed her nerves, Ramona would leave.

No one paid her any notice as she headed towards the door. Funny how the second she decides she doesn’t want to flirt with them, they completely ignore her. She opened it and slipped through, casting one more glance to the corner before closing the door behind her. Where she was going to go now, she didn’t know. It wasn’t that late, only around eleven pm, which was nowhere near as late as she usually stayed up. There was really only one other place she could go. Which wasn’t true, not really. She was the princess, she could go anywhere she wanted. But if her parents found her anywhere they would question why she was out here, and that was a conversation she didn’t feel like having.

It wasn’t a secret to her that her parents weren’t big fans of people like her. Of course, they didn’t come out publicly with it, that would spark outrage, considering that about half the court was lgbtq+. But when they were in private, they made their distaste quite clear.

So there was only one place she could think of where they wouldn’t think to look for her. She made up her mind and started towards Lola’s room.

~~~~~~~

Virgo watched the princess leave the room, looking over her shoulder every few steps. Jeez, did she really stick out that much? Everyone else seemed to be avoiding her, now that she thought about it. Everyone except Janice, of course.

Speaking of, Janice finished her conversation with… whoever it was she was talking to, Virgo hadn’t really been paying attention, and came back over to her.

“What was that about?” Virgo shrugged, watching the princess leave. Probably to find Lola Payne and tell her about how weird this girl she just met was. She sighed.

“She’s just interested in Dad.” Virgo knew that was the only reason Princess Ramona would have ever come over to talk to her. She had suspected it when the princess had first started speaking, and her question about her father’s execution had only confirmed it.

“Her body language begs to differ.” Virgo raised an eyebrow at her step-sister. They hadn’t known each other for too long, only meeting in person about two years ago, after their parents had gotten engaged. But it certainly felt like they’d known each other for much longer. After they had gotten past their initial suspicions of one another, they had become quite close. Her sister always knew exactly what to say to make her feel better.

“Jan, please. What other reason could she have to talk to me of all people?” Janice took a sip from her glass.

“I don’t know, maybe she’s interested in you?” Virgo laughed outright.

“Yeah right. That’s a good one Jan.” She missed the look on Janice’s face, the one that said that she was definitely not joking. “It’s nothing. She probably won’t come back. Did you even see how I acted? She probably thinks I hate her!”

“Virgo please, you’re overreacting.” Virgo shook her head and looked out at the sea of courtiers in a range of different colors.

“Whatever, forget it. So what about you? Have any luck finding Princess Rema?” Janice blushed and her face turned annoyed.

“Really V? Turning the conversation on me? That’s low, even for you.” Virgo laughed and smiled mischievously.

“You know nothing’s too low for me. Now spill.” Janice scowled and sighed, her eyes drifting across the ballroom as a few of the couples began to dance.

“No, I didn’t talk to her. Couldn’t even find her. She probably left the party to go do something chaotic.” Virgo giggled. Princess Rema was known for being… impulsive, to say the very least. How Janice managed to find this attractive, she would never know.

“Well, hopefully you’ll have better luck next time.” Janice sighed and ran her free hand through her short hair.

“But this is the third party in a row! If this keeps up I’ll have to approach her outside of a party, and then I won’t have the excuse of drunkenness if things go south.” Virgo rolled her eyes and nudged her sister. She placed her cup on a passing tray collecting dirty dishes. It was still full, but she wasn’t in the mood for alcohol. Her sister drained her cup and did the same.

“Look, if you really want to court her, you’re going to have to start somewhere. Now stop being a wuss and just go find and talk to her. You’re making excuses Jan, and that’s not like you at all. You’re so ambitious it scares me, I don’t understand why you’re so hesitant with this one. You’ve never been this nervous about courting someone before. In fact, normally you’re a bit too forward.” Janice scowled again and sighed.

“It’s not that simple, V. I would have thought that you’d understand, given that you’ve been pining after-”

“SHHHHHH” Virgo hushed, looking around to make sure no one overheard that. No one was paying attention to them though, in fact, they seemed to be avoiding looking in their direction. “Can we not talk about this right now? You and I both know that I don’t feel that way anymore.” She hissed. Janice sighed and waved her hand dismissively.

“Fine, I suppose we can save it for later.” Virgo sighed and gripped her skirt again. The black fabric almost perfectly matched her nails, except that while her dress only had a bit of dull purple embroidery, the swirly patterns on her nails were a bright glittery violet. She bit her lower lip, which had a natural shade of lipstick on. Normally she would have worn something like black or purple, but she figured this was a relatively informal event, so she didn’t have to. No need to draw more attention to her than necessary, after all. She looked at her sister’s eyes, or rather, her eye. She could feel the golden gaze locking onto her, and the pupil dilating ever so slightly.

“...Anyway, I think I’m going to retire for the night soon.” She wasn’t that tired, but this party was starting to make her anxious. Janice pouted.

“But it’s barely eleven thirty! You have to stay up until at least one am.” Virgo rolled her eyes, looking at her sister’s pout and her laughable attempt at puppy eyes. Still, Virgo was a pushover, and had a hard time saying no to people.

“...Alright fine. But I’m not staying here. There are too many people here, and it’s starting to really freak me out. Can we go somewhere quieter? Somewhere with less… people?” Janice reached out and gently took one of her hands. Virgo looked at her nails, which matched Virgo’s except for the fact that where Virgo’s designs were purple, hers were gold, matching the gold chain around her neck.

“Of course. I never expected you to stay here. To be honest, I’m a little surprised you lasted this long. Let’s just make sure your mother doesn’t find out. That woman will have a fit if she realizes you’re missing.” Virgo rolled her eyes.

“She doesn’t care. She probably won’t even notice I’m gone. Knowing her, she’s probably drunk, and flirting with like- three separate guys.” Janice laughed.

“And my father’s probably eyeing up the ladies as well.” Virgo smirked. Janice held out an arm, and Virgo took it hesitantly. Touch was something she had been rather hesitant about, especially since her father had died. She was okay with Janice touching her, but there would always be that hesitance. Still, the touch was grounding, and Janice squeezed Virgo’s arm reassuringly. They walked towards the exit, and Virgo could feel people’s eyes on them. They were trying to avert their gaze, but at the same time they couldn’t. It must have looked strange, the unusual Janice Lyre escorting her evil step sister out of a ball room. Because that is what people thought of her. They thought she was evil, just like her father.

Only her father wasn’t evil. He just happened to make a few mistakes that got him killed. Virgo’s grip on Janice’s arm tightened, and Janice recognized the sign. Her pace sped up, and they reached the door sooner.

Janice removed her hand from Virgo’s arm to push the door open, and Virgo mourned the loss of it’s comforting touch. She was still clinging desperately to her sister’s other arm, though, so at least she hadn’t lost contact completely. They slipped quietly out the door, and Janice shut it behind them. They both let out a sigh of relief, and Janice looked at Virgo.

“Would you like me to let go now?” Virgo shook her head. Her sister’s touch was comforting, she didn’t want to be without it. Janice smiled gently, and nodded. “So where do you want to go now? We could head back to my room and ask a servant to bring us some food and wine from there.” Virgo thought it over. Eventually she nodded, and Janice smiled.

“Can we pass through the gardens on the way there?” Janice nodded, her eyes full of warmth and comfort.

“Of course. Alright then, let’s go.” With that, the pair set off down the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which the author cannot decide when to quit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Smut mention, misgendering, cursing

Lola groaned and slammed her book shut for the fourth time in about ten minutes. It had been recommended to her by Ramona, whose taste in books were, admittedly, nowhere near the same as Lola’s, but she had been intrigued by the plot of this one and was attempting to get past all of the… less than savory content so she could actually break down and analyze the book itself. But the first page was already so full of smut she couldn’t get past the first paragraph, let alone read through the first chapter.

She thought she would know what she was getting into. Ramona and Rema always favored the more intense romance novels, albeit for different reasons. Lola believed Ramona read them for the actual romance element, as she loved fantasizing about what her relationship would look like in the future. And Rema… Rema just read it for the smut. Lola avoided that stuff like the plague usually, smut made her uncomfortable and she just didn’t see the value in romance. Everyone else seemed to feel it, she just… couldn’t.

Recently she had read a book describing this as being “aro ace,” meaning she was uninterested in romance and physically incapable of feeling romantic or sexual attraction towards people. Which made sense. She had never been interested in girls or guys, unlike Ramona, who caught feelings for nearly every pretty face she saw, provided that it was, of course, female.

The only reason Ramona wasn’t married by now was because she believed in “one true love” and “soulmates.” Both of which were concepts that had no scientific evidence of existence but had been around for nearly as long as the concept of “love” itself. Ramona wouldn’t marry someone unless she believed them to be her soulmate, which was ridiculous in Lola’s opinion. If it were up to her, she’d just settle for whoever had the most benefits and forget about trying to find the ideal partner. Either that or just, don’t get married. Though Ramona did seem hellbent on one day marrying someone. As her friend put it, she would rather wait for the right person to love then get married to someone she didn’t love at all.

Lola on the other hand, had no intentions of getting married ever. Getting married meant having to participate in… particular activities that she was nowhere near comfortable with. And that just wasn’t her thing. She’d support Ramona and Rema when they got married, of course, but she had already decided it was never going to happen for her.

She heard a knock on the door and picked up her novel again. She opened it up, but had already given up on trying to read it.

“Come in, Ramona.” Ramona opened the door, looking quite sheepish. Lola sighed and closed the book again, setting it on her nightstand. Ramona walked over to her bed and flopped down on it, groaning into the pillow. “You’re here early. I would have thought you’d prefer to stay out a little later.”

“If I have to sit through one more confession of undying love or impromptu marriage proposal, I’m going to lose it.” Lola smirked and looked at her friend.

“Who was it this time?” Ramona rolled onto her back and sighed.

“I don’t even remember what his name was. All I remember is that he’s twice my age and really into agriculture. Like, _really_ into agriculture. Plus some random dude in the hallway. I didn’t even look at him.” Lola laughed.

“That would be Lord Renalds. He’s known for having excellent harvests year after year.. He also had two sons about a year older than I am, he was probably trying to find a way to introduce you.” Ramona sighed.

“He obviously has no idea how young people work. No one wants to listen to someone talk about the harvest at a _party_ of all places. Like seriously what even was his plan, just go ‘so that’s why agriculture is important, by the way, I have a son and he wants to marry you?’” Lola resisted the urge to laugh. 

“That is indeed what he was most likely trying to do. Or perhaps he was trying to win your favor and then introduce you later.” Ramona sighed.

“But that’s not how I _work._ Why does everyone just automatically assume I’m interested in the same stuff as them? It’s rather irritating.” Lola’s eyes crinkled ever so slightly, and she made a closed mouth smile.

“Well, old people don’t understand young people. The differences in our generations are so large that we may as well be different cultures entirely. Now, did any _good_ things happen, or did you just come to me to bitch about old people? I know that one lord isn’t nearly enough to get you to leave a party, so what happened?” Ramona sat up, and looked at the ground, a light blush sprinkled on her face.

“Well… I met this girl.”

“Oh good lord.”

“Oh shut up! You said you wanted to know what happened! Anyway… I met this girl, and she’s… she’s really pretty. Like, it’s ridiculous how pretty she is. And apparently she’s the daughter of Lord Storm? The one that was executed for treason and black magic?” Lola nodded.

“I remember. I was unaware that he had a daughter.” Ramona got off the bed and started pacing around the room.

“I… I think that I kind of knew? But I wasn’t expecting her to be so _pretty_ Lola! She was gorgeous! Her hair was black, but not black like yours. There was something about it, an almost purple tint. Her skin was so fair it was practically white! And her eyes- don’t even get me started on her eyes, they were simply beautiful. You wouldn’t believe…” Lola tuned her out. Ramona didn’t get like this too often, but when she did, there was nothing that could stop her. She knew that it was just better to sit and nod along, even though her sentences would eventually start to get jumbled and make less and less sense as she went on.

“...and get this, Lola! She was hostile towards me!” Lola blinked.

“I’m sorry, that’s something you find attractive now?” Ramona sighed and rolled her eyes like she was an idiot, which Lola did not appreciate.

“No! I just mean that- she’s different from everyone else. She didn’t treat me like a precious piece of jewelry that needs to be protected from the world, and she didn’t try to suck up to me because of my status. She- she talked to me like an actual, normal person. It felt amazing, Lo. She’s- _she’s_ amazing.” Lola nodded along. She knew that Ramona hated it when people treated her as dainty, weak. The castle guard knew better than to do it by now, and most of the courtiers had dialed it back after Ramona had snapped at a few of them, but her parents never seemed to learn. 

Lola had been her friend since they were children, she and Rema had been introduced to her by their parents. At first Lola didn’t like them very much, admittedly, she thought they were rather stupid and disappointing for the future rulers of the kingdom. But she had grown fonder of their chaos over the years, until they were practically inseparable. Ramona liked Lola for the same reasons that she found this “Virgo” so intriguing. They were different. Perhaps she should introduce herself to Virgo Storm sometime. She was already rather close with her step sister, after all.

“Well I’m sure she’s lovely. But from the way you described her, I’m surprised that she’s the one who caught your attention. You seem to favor the more confident ones, and hanging in the shadows doesn’t exactly scream ‘confident,’ don’t you think?” Ramona shrugged.

“I guess I don’t really know why… unless we’re soulmates?” Lola groaned and Ramona burst out laughing, falling back onto her back again. “In all seriousness, I don't know why she makes me feel like this, I guess we’ll see if it amounts to anything. Who knows, maybe it’s just another infatuation that will go away with time. Maybe it won’t. I’m hoping it won’t. She feels… different. Not like the others. I like that about her.” Lola smiled fondly at her friend, and sighed. 

“Well, I guess we’ll have to just wait and see how things play out, won’t we.”

“Yeah, I guess we will…” 

~~~~~~

Pamela scanned the crowd for any sign of Lola Payne. Looking for her almond colored skin, or her black hair and dark eyes. Something, _anything_ to let Pamela know that she was at least here. So far, no luck. She was very near giving up her search, she was usually quite attentive and if she couldn’t find Lola, then she probably wasn’t here. 

Pamela should have known better than to think she’d show up. Even though she was supposed to be attending this party, Lola had a record of skipping them in favor of reading someplace quiet. Not that Pamela could blame her for that, she had done it before as well, but every time she skipped a party, another part of Pamela was let down. She didn’t see Lola very often, and when she did, she was always swarmed with guys trying to catch her attention. These parties were pretty much the only times they ever crossed paths.

Not that Pamela had ever actually, you know, _talked_ to Lola. No, she was much too shy for that. Being around new people made her antsy, and just being in the same general area as Lola made her nervous, slightly flustered, and lose all control of her body. If Lola had ever noticed her and said hi? Pamela was sure the second she opened her mouth she would chase her away. She would never be able to work up enough courage to speak to her.

Looking around the room, she saw her best and pretty much only friend, Emily, clinging to her fiance, grinning and talking to some random lady, who was probably congratulating them on their recent engagement. Pamela smiled. She was happy for Emily, of course she was. Emily had been crushing on Renae for a really long time before they ever officially met, much like Pamela’s crush on Lola, and now seeing that the two of them were getting married? Pamela couldn’t be more excited for her friend.

But in all honesty, seeing the two of them together reminded her of the future she would probably never have. Renae looked an awful lot like her sister, albeit taller and with broader shoulders, and seeing the two of them smiling and laughing with one another sent a small pang of pain through her every time. She tried to chase it off, but it was still there, no matter how much she wished it would go away. 

Emily glanced over and noticed her watching them. Pamela waved and gave her a small smile. Emily smiled back and let go of Renae to saunter over to her.

“Hey P. What’s going on?” Emily questioned. Pamela sighed and glanced around the ballroom again, looking one last time for her crush.

“She’s not here.” It wasn’t a question. Emily sighed and gave her a sympathetic smile.

“No she’s not. Renae is pretty sure she’s back in her room. Lola’s not a big fan of these things, you know. I know you aren’t either, not really. It’s alright, maybe she’ll be at the next one.” Pamela sighed and nodded, trying to keep her spirits up. One party didn’t mean anything, Lola just wasn’t feeling up to attending. It was fine, there were plenty of occasions when Pamela didn’t feel up to it too. It meant nothing.

“You know… if you’re really so interested in seeing her, I could introduce you. I am engaged to her sister, after all. You already know Renae pretty well, there’s no reason why I can’t-”

“ _NO!_ ” Pamela shouted. Emily flinched back, surprised by the outburst. Pamela immediately felt guilty and put a hand to her mouth, before she started wringing her hands. “Sorry, I just-” She cut herself off, and took a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts. She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. “I don’t know if I could handle that. She makes me feel so… so nervous. I… I always freeze up around her. If you try to introduce us, I’ll freeze up, and then she’ll think I’m really weird and I just can’t stomach that.” She smiled tiredly. “But thanks for offering. ” Emily smiled.

“It’s not a problem, Pam. Let me know if you ever change your mind okay? But if you don’t mind me asking… why do you attend these parties in hopes of seeing her if you’re never going to talk to her?”

“Well… I dunno, I just like seeing her. I don’t really know her that well, I know, but she just seems so… so… perfect! She’s intelligent and cool and collected and really _really_ pretty, it’s not wonder she has so many suitors! But… there are already so many people vying for her heart, I wouldn’t stand a chance against some of them. My family isn’t very powerful, there isn’t a whole lot I could bring to the table in a relationship.” Emily raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, from what Renae tells me, she’s not very interested in any of the prospects presented so far. You could still have a chance. You’ll never know unless you try, right?” Pamela sighed and covered her face with her hands.

“If she’s not into any of them what chance do I have, Em? It’ll never work. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s already with that Janice girl. They spend an awful lot of time together. I get that they’re rivals and everything, but they seem pretty friendly with one another for rivals.” Emily sighed and put her hand on Pamela’s shoulder.

“Look, I get it. Talking to your crush is scary. You have no idea how long it took me to work up the courage to talk to Renae.” Pamela rolled her eyes. Was Emily really qualified to give her this talk?

“Actually, I do. Because I was there when your crush developed on her. And as I recall, you wouldn’t talk to her until she approached you first!” Emily sighed and continued on, choosing to ignore her friend’s jab.

“Okay, look, my point is, you gotta start somewhere. It doesn’t have to be big. Just introduce yourself to her, say ‘Hi my name is Pamela.’ or something like that, and then go from there.” Pamela gave her a “really?” look.

“You’re telling me to just go for it? After I had to sit through months of you ranting about Renae to me and completely rejecting all of my advice about how to go about talking to her because it ‘was too forward’ or ‘it’s too obvious?’” Emily blushed.

“Alright alright, I’m a hypocrite, I admit it, there, happy now? But my point still stands. Maybe later you can hang out with me and Renae and then Lola will just _happen_ to be there.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“I would. Now, if you’re not going to enjoy the party because your crush isn’t here, then I suggest turning in for the night. If not, come hang out with me and Renae. God knows I’m going to need some help with keeping her alcohol intake in check. She’s already on her third drink. It’s only been what, thirty minutes?” Pamela laughed.

“This was your choice. You’re the one who went and fell for her.” Emily rolled her eyes. Pamela glanced past her to see Princess Ramona talking to Renae.

“I think the princess is with your fiance. Might want to check that out before the two of them destroy something.” Emily laughed.

“Rema’s the destructive one, remember? Though… Ramona _can_ still be pretty impulsive, so thanks for letting me know. I’ll talk to you a bit later, alright?” Pamela nodded. Emily gave her one last smile before heading back over to her fiance.

Pamela sighed and leaned up against the wall, tilting her head back. Her blonde curls were pulled back into a ponytail, which pressed against the wall in a slightly uncomfortable way. The situation was hopeless.

 _Well._ She thought. _I might as well enjoy the party while I’m here._

That thought lasted about ten minutes, after which she got bored and decided to head to the library instead.

~~~~~

Ramona and Lola sat in comfortable silence. A good deal of their friendship was made up of the two of them just sitting around, enjoying the other’s presence without really doing anything. That is until they heard shouting out in the hall. Lola gave Ramona a questioning look, and Ramona shrugged.

“It’s probably Rema.” The two of them stood up quickly and opened the door. Peering out, they saw a completely drunk Renae cursing at a couple of boys, who were cowering in the corner. Emily was trying desperately to get her to calm down, but so far no luck. Lola sighed and stepped out of the room. There was really only one thing that got her sister this worked up, even when she was drunk. She walked down the hallway and stood next to Emily, who crossed her arms over her chest.

“So, mind explaining to me who did it this time?” Emily glanced in her direction, and smirked.

“I don’t even know their names. All I know is that someone must have misgendered her, probably on accident. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because they’re drunk.” Lola sighed and nodded. Her sister didn’t take kindly to people misgendering her, and her reaction only worsened when she was drunk. She clapped her hands twice, drawing the attention of both Renae and the boys she was shouting at.

“Alright Renae, I think you’ve had more than enough time to party. Lord knows you’re going to have an awful hangover tomorrow, and I refuse to make it worse.”

“But _isss_ barely midnight!” Renae whined. Lola rolled her eyes and marched over to her sister, grabbing her by the arm. 

“I don’t care, you’re going to bed. And as for you.” She glared at the boys who were cowering in the corner. “You know your mistake. Don’t let it happen again.” Both the boys nodded vigorously, before scrambling down the hallway and out of sight, nearly tripping on the rug every few steps. Lola sighed and rolled her eyes. Emily put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and took Renae’s other arm.

“I can handle her from here, Lola. I know we probably interrupted your reading.” Lola shook her head and smiled.

“It’s alright. I wasn’t going to make any progress tonight anyway. I’ll help you put her to bed and then maybe the two of us could hang out. I realize I don’t know you all that well, though I probably should, and I’d like to get to know the woman my sister is going to be marrying.” Emily beamed at Lola.

“That sounds wonderful!” She said, stars in her eyes. Lola smiled at her, and the two set off down the hallway with a drunken Renae in their arms.

~~~~~

Virgo and Janice sat on the bed, each nursing their own drinks. Janice was finishing her second glass, while Virgo had barely even touched her first. She didn’t like drinking, drinking made her loosen up. And when she loosened up, she was more likely to let her secrets slip. Everyone had them, and she had seen more than a few people accidentally reveal something about themselves they would have rather stayed private because they had a bit too much to drink. They were both silent, which was nice. Virgo always preferred the quiet places rather than the loud ones. The loud ones overwhelmed her easily, it was always just easier to move somewhere with less noise.

Eventually her sister stood up and walked over to her book shelf, pulling a spiral sketchbook off one of them. She grabbed a pencil off her desk and opened her book to the next blank page. As she skimmed through the pages, trying to find it, Virgo caught a few glimpses of incredibly detailed and realistic drawings. Her sister didn’t like to share her art very often, not even with her, and Virgo was fine with that. There was nothing wrong with her preferring to keep it private.

Though occasionally, she would show Virgo a drawing that she was particularly proud of, and Virgo would cherish the memory for as long as she could. Janice’s eidetic memory allowed her to capture small moments that lasted less than a second in her mind perfectly, and allowed her to draw on said moments at will. It was very helpful for her art.

Lately, her drawings focused on conveying movement through a still picture. She captured birds in flight, leaves being lifted off the ground by the wind, water rippling. She was quite talented, and it was satisfying to watch her work.

“What are you working on?” Janice’s head snapped up, and she blushed.

“It- it's nothing.” Normally, Virgo would have left it at that, but something about the way her sister said it made her pause.

“C’mon, show me!” She poked, testing out the waters. Janice’s blush deepened, and Virgo started to get an idea of what she was drawing. She barely resisted the urge to smirk. Janice bent her head back down and continued working. After sitting in silence for some time, she asked again.

“Seriously, though, what are you drawing?” Janice stopped, her tip of her pencil snapping, the only outward sign of her annoyance. She cursed and pulled out her sharpener, quickly sharpening to point back to where she liked it before getting back to work.

“I’m not going to give up until you tell me.” Virgo said with a smug look on her face. Janice’s face was positively red now, though whether it was from anger or something else, Virgo wasn’t entirely sure. 

“Fine, you want to know? Here.” She thrust the drawing pad into Virgo’s lap. On the page was an incomplete drawing of Princess Rema at the party, talking with someone, though the picture didn’t show who. Virgo stared at it for a moment before looking back at Janice, whose red face was definitely from embarrassment now.

“This is what you were so hesitant to show me? Jan this looks amazing! I don’t understand why you were… ohhhhhhhhh.” She grinned mischievously. “I see. Oh my god, Jan. You’re obsessed.” Janice folded her arms over her chest and looked everywhere but Virgo.

“I am not! The Princess is just… really… _really_ attractive. I wanted- to see if I could draw her. I don’t think I’m doing her justice, though.” Virgo raised an eyebrow.

“You’re too hard on yourself. I think it looks great.”

“Yeah well, you are your own greatest critic and all that.” Virgo laughed a bit and handed Janice her drawing pad back.

“Well, it really does look good. Maybe you should give it to the princess. I’m sure she’d love it-”

“No! Oh my god, Virgo! Can you imagine how weird that would be? To show her a drawing of herself and say ‘oh by the way I was looking at you long enough to memorize every little detail of you and decided to draw it immediately?’” Virgo snorted. Janice only looked mildly offended, but she rested her hand on her bedpost, placing her forehead against it.

“Look, I know what you said. I… I’ll talk to her. I just don’t think that it’s a good idea to show her… _that_ first. Maybe… if things go well… I could show her later, but not right now, okay?” Virgo raised her hands.

“Hey it was just a suggestion. And I mean, go for it. She’ll love you, I’m sure of it.” Janice raised an eyebrow, and Virgo shrugged. “Hey, it’s not like she has a lot of options.” Janice snorted and picked up one of the pillows, whacking her sister on the head with it. Virgo made an offended noise.

“Hey, but thanks. And hey, who knows, maybe Princess Ramona’s interest in you goes beyond your dad.” Virgo rolled her eyes. “Well, you never know, now do you?” Virgo sighed and waved her hand dismissively.

“Oh please, she doesn’t care. And like I said, I doubt she’d ever actually talk to me again. She won’t come back, just you watch. You’re getting your hopes up for nothing.”

“Your self deprecating statements are going to be the death of me. Stop talking bad about yourself or I will physically fight you.” Virgo laughed, and laid back on the bed.

“Yeah yeah, okay Jan. I love you.”

“I love you too, V.” She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, really, she hadn’t. But the bed was so comfortable, and it was late enough that she was tired. Without meaning to, her eyes closed, and she drifted off.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so... I guess... cursing... maybe? And I think that's it? If there's anything you think I should add let me know :)

A few weeks had passed, and Virgo didn’t know what the princess’s problem was. It was really, _really_ awkward to try and avoid her when she was actively seeking her out. Virgo had asked her why she kept visiting, but Ramona didn’t even seem to have an answer for that. She just turned red and looked away, like she was embarrassed by the truth they both knew. That was something Virgo didn’t understand. Why would she feel embarrassed by anything? She’s the princess, she could get away with literal murder if she wanted to. Yet whenever it came to Virgo, she all of a sudden grew quiet and refused to talk about it.

After their first meeting, Ramona made a point to avoid talking about Virgo’s father, which made zero sense to her. Why on earth was Ramona working so hard to not bring it up if that was the whole reason she kept talking to her? Janice’s voice briefly flashed through her mind.

 _“Maybe Princess Ramona’s interest in you goes beyond your dad.”_ Virgo quickly shook off the thought. There was no way that she was actually interested in her as a person. She was weird and dark, she purposefully hid in the back corners of the room at parties and cloaked herself in shadows. She was as unwelcoming as a person could possibly be! She had seen what the princess’s type was, and Virgo was certainly not it.

…So why did she keep coming back? Why would Princess Ramona, the confident, showy, person that she was, want to talk to darkness personified? There were so many other options out there, people she could talk to, things she could do, yet her fixation stayed on Virgo. She was the most determined person Virgo had ever met.

“Ugh!” Janice groaned, interrupting her thoughts. “For heaven’s sake, V! I can sense you overthinking something from here!” Virgo startled and turned to look at her. She blushed and kicked a small pebble on the ground. They were in the gardens again, and Ramona was talking with her sister not twenty feet from them. Janice was sitting on a stone bench in the shade, while Virgo was pacing.

“Sorry. You know there’s just been a lot on my mind lately.” Janice rolled her eyes and rested her elbows on her knees, setting her head in her hands.

“Well it’s not like you’re the only one.” Virgo sighed and fidgeted with the end of her hair like she always did.

“Sorry…” She muttered Janice smirked and motioned to the seat on the bench next to her. Virgo walked over and plopped down right next to her, leaning on her shoulder.

“You really need to stop thinking so hard.” Virgo sighed.

“I know, I know. But it’s not easy, you know. That’s just what anxiety does to people.” Janice sighed.

“Of all the people who could get anxiety, it had to be the one with…” She trailed off, and Virgo looked up to see the princesses walking towards them. The sisters looked at one another, and Virgo could already see the blush on Janice’s face. She smirked subtly, and nudged her sister, who turned back to look at Rema once more. The older of the two princesses was staring at Janice. Ramona smiled shyly at Virgo, and waved. She nodded a fraction, but her attention was on her sister at the moment. 

Virgo cast a glance at Janice, whose hand was subtly reaching down to the flower bush next to them. She plucked a single flower off of it, which just so happened to be an orange rose. The meaning of it flashed through Virgo’s head. Fascination, passion, attraction, desire, and a few other things. A good substitute for a red rose if one wanted to change things up. She held it out to the princess, who looked surprised by it. Janice smirked slyly, batting her eyelashes and changing her expression ever so slightly to look more confident but no less smitten.

After a moment’s hesitation, Rema reached out and took the flower, tucking it behind her ear. Janice offered her a charming smile, one that could lull anyone into a sense of security, false or not. She stood up, and Virgo could see that she had a good four inches on the princess.

“Hello Princess.” She said, her voice smooth as silk. Virgo realized she was finally making a move on her, and resisted the urge to cheer. The princess gave her an eager smile, and Virgo almost laughed aloud. Rema was clearly just as infatuated with her sister as Janice was with her.

“Hey!” She said, her voice cheerful. Janice looked behind her to see Virgo staring at her, so she started walking down the path. Rema eagerly chased after her, and Janice threw one last smug look over her shoulder before turning her attention back to the princess. Virgo was confused as to why until she realized that Ramona was still watching her. She looked down, feeling irrationally bashful.

“Um… it looks like our sisters have left to do… something.” Virgo huffed.

“Probably something anarchist related. If your sister is anywhere near as chaotic as the rest of the court thinks she is, there’s no way Janice is going to be able to resist going along with it.” She looked up without moving her head, and saw the princess smirking.

“Really? I was under the impression that your sister was very rational and calm.” Virgo flipped her hair back over her shoulder and laughed a bit. Looking at the princess, Ramona was staring at her with a stricken expression, like someone had gut punched her. Her face was tinged with red.

“She acts like she is, but she can’t resist the chaos.” She shrugged. “So, I see that Rema is just as smitten with Janice as Janice is with her.” Ramona laughed, and Virgo had to admit it was a very pleasant sound.

“Those two were made for one another.” Virgo nodded in agreement, a small smile on her face. That is, until she remembered who was standing in front of her. The smile disappeared, and she tried out a scowl, though something in Ramona’s face told her she wasn’t quite selling it.

“So, was there anything you wanted or did you just come to introduce your sister to mine?” Ramona winced.

“I ah- actually wanted to ask you if you um… if you wanted to take a… walk through the gardens with me?” Virgo stared at the princess. Was she really suggesting that? Was this- was this a _date?_ Virgo shook her head, that was impossible. “I-is that a no, then?” Virgo looked back up at Ramona, who looked rather nervous. She was fidgeting with her hands, and Virgo realized what it must have looked like to her.

“O-oh! No, no sorry, I was just clearing my thoughts. I um… I’d love to walk with you.” Where had that come from? So much for being aggressive. She cursed herself internally, what was she even saying? She no doubt sounded like she was in love with the princess, and that was _far_ from the truth. 

~~(There was absolutely no way she was in love with the princess… Right?)~~

There was no way in _hell_ she was going to fall for Ramona’s charms. Her many… many… charms… _What is going on with you today, V?_ If Ramona noticed her slip up, she didn’t say anything.

“Oh, great!” Virgo stood up and dusted her skirts off. Ramona held her arm out, but she hesitated. She didn’t let many people touch her, only Janice was allowed to, and it had taken them awhile to get to that point in their relationship. It had been months of them being good friends before she was okay with it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like touch, she just… wasn’t comfortable with anyone who wasn’t a really good friend touching her.

Thankfully, Ramona seemed to sense her discomfort, and lowered her arm. She started down the same path as their sisters, but looking around, Virgo realized that they were nowhere in sight. They must have left the garden. That was… fine. It was fine. She just needed to get through this. They didn’t do much talking for a bit, it was just kind of an awkward silence. Virgo wasn’t sure what she would have preferred more, this or just having a conversation with the princess.

At one point, they were passing a spot specifically filled with roses of every color. Virgo ran through their meanings in her head, just as she had been doing with all the flowers. Floriography was something she had picked up in her free time, which she had a lot of. On her last birthday, she received a book from Janice on floriography. She had spent the next few weeks committing all of the meanings to memory. It had been a good few weeks, where she didn’t feel bothered by everyone else’s stares, when the weight of the rumors seemed to disappear instead of following her around everywhere.

~~God she wanted to go back to that…~~

She barely registered Ramona reaching down to one of the rose bushes, and blinked, startled, when Ramona held a rose out to her, similar to how Janice had done with Rema. She took the rose and stared at it. It was violet, which really startled Virgo. A violet rose meant enchantment, love at first sight. What was the princess trying to say?

She held the rose gently, fingering one of its petals carefully. It felt smooth and cool, which was a surprise, because it was quite hot outside right now. Part of how hot she was definitely had to do with the fact that she was wearing a long sleeve turtleneck button dress that was completely black, which was not the smartest move on her part, but it was definitely warmer than usual, making the coolness of the petal feel nice. The princess had left about an inch of stem left on the rose, and she held onto that stem, because it felt wrong to clutch it by the petals. Maybe Janice was right. Maybe the princess _was_ actually interested in her.

Virgo dismissed the thought as quickly as it had appeared. Ramona probably didn’t know the meaning of a purple rose, and had chosen it simply because it matched her aesthetic. It wasn’t a secret that she liked purple. It was her favorite color. Still, she was oddly touched that the princess had noticed, even if she didn’t know the actual meaning behind the flower she had just given her. At least she was getting to know her.

~~~~~

It really wasn’t fair how absolutely adorable Virgo looked right now. When she tossed her hair over her shoulder and laughed, Ramona had felt like melting. When she smiled at her sister, Ramona nearly fainted. This girl had no idea how attracted to her Ramona was.

And the look on her face when Ramona had offered her the rose? It was priceless. Ramona knew roses were symbols of romantic attraction, though she wasn’t positive if the meaning stayed the same for any color other than red, so who knows what she really just said to Virgo? Virgo looked at Ramona with something other than the guarded caution she had been receiving the past few days, which was progress. Next she just had to figure out how to confess her feelings to her.

Virgo seemed like the kind who would only date someone she knew really well, so Ramona’s plan was to befriend her first, and then ask her on a date. Unless you counted this as a date, which, if Ramona was asked, she would shrug and say something along the lines of “If you want it to be.” So far, though, Virgo hadn’t asked, so Ramona was unsure if she was just supposed to assume it was or assume it wasn’t until evidence to the contrary was provided.

“So… you come to the gardens often?” She knew the answer, of course. Ever since that party, Ramona couldn’t help but want to be wherever Virgo wanted to be. She had seen Virgo through a window in the garden many times.

“Uh… yeah I guess. I just like looking at the flowers.” Virgo shrugged. Ramona smiled

“Well, I don’t really come here that often. I like the orchard better. When I was younger I used to climb the trees with my sister. She would always try to hang upside down like a bat. And every single time she fell. Yet no matter how many concussions she got, she always tried again. She’s always been so persistent.” Virgo laughed, she actually _laughed!_

“Sounds like fun.” Ramona smiled and looked away to hide her blush. God this girl was amazing. “Janice likes to go ice skating. So it’s really a shame that we only get to go during winter. Though once when we were kids, she tried skating on ice that was too thin and nearly fell in. I’ve never worked up the courage to get back on the ice since then.” Ramona pursed her lips.

“Well, that doesn’t sound like it was a pleasant experience.” Virgo shook her head.

“It certainly wasn’t.”

~~~~~

Janice stood up and brushed her skirt off. She knew that Ramona had come here for Virgo, but the fact that the other princess was here… well, she may as well take Virgo’s advice.

 _“Look, if you really want to court her, you’re going to have to start somewhere. Now stop being a wuss and just go find and talk to her.”_ She took a deep breath and started walking down the path. She heard Rema coming up behind her, and she threw one last look back at Virgo. Rema managed to catch up to Janice, and offered her a feral smile. The orange rose was still tucked in her hair and complemented its dark auburn color. They walked down the path in silence for a few moments, before Janice finally realized she was going to have to make a move.

“So, Your Highness.” She said in the silky tone of voice she used when she was flirting with people. Virgo called it her “seduction voice,” though she had no plans of… seducing the princess just yet. At least, not entirely. “I don’t believe we’ve ever been properly introduced. Though our sisters seem to be getting well acquainted.” Rema snorted.

“Ramona’s absolutely smitten. I haven’t seen her like this in… well, never, really. Her crushes have never gone this far before.” Janice bit her lower lip.

“I think Virgo is still in denial. She’s convinced that the princess only wants to know about her father, and not her as a person.” She rolled her eyes. “It gets a little old, especially with how obvious she’s being. Virgo is either really self deprecating, or really dense, and neither of those things are particularly good.” Rema nodded in agreement.

“Welp, Ramona can’t take a hint, so I think that evens it out.” The princess moved her hand to brush a strand of her hair back, and her fingers grazed the flower. Her fingers hesitated when they met the petals, before she smiled at the ground.

“So. You gave me a rose. I think that counts as courtship?” Janice shrugged noncommittally.

“Well, it’s an orange rose, so the meaning changes, of course. I think Virgo told me… what was it… enthusiasm? Passion? Desire? Something along those lines.” She turned back to look at Rema and realized, with much satisfaction, that she was blushing. She was really cute when she blushed.

“So… does that mean you’re in love with me?” Janice shrugged, trying to play it cool. She was ninety percent sure she had succeeded.

“I don’t know if _love_ is the term I would use quite yet. We don’t really know one another, now do we? Though I suppose I have taken a certain… interest in you?” She left the ending a question, as if she were still debating on what this feeling was. Rema’s face brightened, but after a moment the smile faltered, and then her face fell. Janice frowned and furrowed her brow. Had she said something wrong?

“You- you really shouldn’t. My parents are going to set me up with someone else, everyone knows that. It- it would never work, and you’d get in trouble for ‘tampering with foreign affairs.’” She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh that sounded disappointed. Janice sighed and took the princess’s hand, causing her to look up. Janice smiled slyly, leaning closer.

“Well, the rules never stopped you before, did they, _Your Highness_?” The title rolled off the tongue, and Janice knew that there must have been something enticing in the way she had said it. She could see it in the princess’s face. Rema looked stunned for a second, before a mischievous grin spread across her face.

“I like you.” Janice had to stop herself from giggling. It was ridiculous, how the princess made her feel so giddy. She had to stop herself from acting like a child even though she wanted nothing more than to squeal.

“I would certainly hope so, considering how much time I put into making sure I’m likeable.” Rema actually giggled. It was a cute sound. Without another word, she pulled back, not letting go of Janice’s hand. Janice barely had time to register this before she took off running, pulling Janice along with her. Janice didn’t think to ask where they were going at first, or what they were going to do. But it felt just… amazing. Here she was, holding hands with the princess, running through the gardens with her. It felt like a dream. And then suddenly they weren’t in the garden anymore. They were in the halls, still running. Servants scrambled to get out of the way, and thankfully those who were holding onto something seemed to keep their balance and their grip.

“Where are we going?” Janice shouted. Rema looked back at her with an absolutely manic grin.

“You’ll see!” They kept running through the halls, and though Janice had memorized each and every one of them, they were going too fast to discern their location. They burst through a set of doors, and the change in temperature and colors told her that they were outside once more. Only then did she realize that Rema was slowing down.

When they came to a stop, Janice looked around. They were in the orchard. Of course! She remembered overhearing in a conversation between the princesses that they used to come here as children. Ah the wonders of having an eidetic memory.

“Why here?” She feigned innocence. It would be rather creepy if she knew exactly why they were here, and she didn’t feel like explaining where she had overheard the information, even if they had been at a party at the time and Janice had been talking to somebody else.

“Rara and I used to come here all the time as kids. We don’t do it as often now, but it’s still one of my favorite places.” Janice made a mental note of that. Still, she raised an eyebrow and her lips twitched in amusement.

“Rara?” Rema blushed, and looked at the ground.

“It’s an old nickname I gave her from when we were kids before I could pronounce ‘Ramona.’ Please don’t tell her I told you that, she hates it when anyone but me uses it.” Janice nodded.

“I won’t say a word.” She walked over to a tree and sat down on the ground, leaning against it. “So tell me. What did you plan to do once we arrived here?” Rema bit her lip and thought about it for a moment before she shrugged.

“I don’t know. I kind of just thought I’d… show you this place. Ramona and I always felt like this was our place. Not many other people come here unless they work here, they either prefer the gardens, not that I blame them for that, or they don’t like either of them. It always just felt like this was… our little secret. Which was kind of silly, because it’s no one’s secret. Everyone knows about it, it’s just that no one comes here and-”

“I understand. Even if it isn’t really secret, it’s a safe space for you. It’s a good thing to have. But, you really brought someone you just met to your special space that you’ve never shared with anybody?” Rema blushed and scuffed the ground with her toe.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t really know you. Everybody knows you. And… and… I may have been sort of… watching you for a while?” Janice almost laughed. She was relieved she wasn’t the only one who had done that.

Janice looked up at the clouds in the sky. It was a hot day, the shade the tree provided felt good. She was wearing an off the shoulder yellow sundress with black flowers embroidered on the edges of the sleeves and the bottom of the skirt, climbing upwards with vines and leaves, but she was still sweating. Her fluffy short hair was sticking to her face, and her bangs were completely soaked. The princess didn’t seem to mind though, if she even noticed it.

“So… do you have a safe space?” Rema asked, skipping over to her and sitting down next to her. Janice thought about it for a moment, before shrugging.

“Well, I suppose my room is something of a safe space for me. Really only a few people are allowed to enter with my permission. Other than that, I can’t really think of one.” Rema nodded, and smiled.

“Well, it’s always nice to have somewhere to retreat to.” Janice nodded in agreement. They sat in silence for a while, just watching the clouds go by. Janice tried to keep her eyes off of the woman sitting next to her. She was absolutely gorgeous, and Janice couldn’t help but wonder why more people couldn’t see it. Yeah, there was the whole thing with the arranged marriage that seemed inevitable, but she knew that a lot of the court also preferred Ramona for other reasons, mainly that Rema was too crazy.

Janice noted that her skin was a shade darker than it was in the winter, presumably tanned by time in the sun. Her green eyes were far away, distant, in a way that suggested she was daydreaming.

Her hair and the flower tucked in it contrasted nicely. Her arms were exposed, and her dress only went down to her knees, exposing bruises that had probably come from the constant running around she did. They varied in size and shape, but it was oddly endearing. Here was a princess who wasn’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Here was a princess who wouldn’t hesitate to jump straight into a fight. Here was a princess who would fight for what she believed in until her dying breath.

Janice decided right there and then that she wouldn’t mind being with someone like her. She had always been a good judge of character, and always knew when someone was lying, yet the princess remained eager and honest the whole time the whole time they talked.

Without really thinking about it, she reached over and brushed her fingers against one of the bruises. Rema noticed, of course. She stared down at her hand, and then looked at Janice in the face, surprise written all over her expression. She looked adorable. So… innocent, when she looked like that. It was laughable, anyone who knew anything knew that Princess Rema was anything from innocent, but there was just that certain… childish wonder in her eyes that made her seem so harmless in that moment.

Janice didn’t know what she was doing, she was no longer in control of her own body, but she found herself leaning forward. Rema seemed to be doing the same. Soon their faces were just inches apart, and Janice searched the princess’s eyes for proof that she felt the same as she did. She found plenty of it.

“...Lady Lyre?” Rema said, though the way she said her title sounded hesitant and unsure. Something about it hit Janice’s ear wrong.

“Call me Janice.” She breathed. Rema smiled at her, and it was so incredibly adorable Janice almost couldn’t take it. She almost pulled back, almost ran away, because her face at this point was so hot and probably so flustered that there was no way Rema hadn’t noticed by now.

“Well then you have to call me Rema.” Janice managed a smirk.

“Whatever you say, _Your Highness._ ” Rema pouted, but neither of them made a move to pull away, and so they stayed like that. Eventually, Janice saw the princess’s eyes drifting down to her lips. Janice felt hers doing the same. 

And then she closed the distance. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the only part that hadn’t been completely overtaken by all of the princess’s charms, screamed at her. What was she doing? She was kissing a girl who she had only officially met _that day._ A girl who, mind you, was basically already promised to somebody else!

But the rest of her didn’t care. Because oh god it felt so _good._ Her lips tasted like… honey? Honey, yes. It wasn’t too surprising, Janice knew that Rema’s favorite dessert was honey filled muffins. They broke apart, and Rema was staring at her with wide eyes and this adorable smile on her face. She looked as happy as Janice felt.

They kissed again. And then again, and again. It was like once they started, they couldn’t stop. There were many more kisses, and when they finally broke apart for the last time, they were both breathless. The orchard around them was quiet, save for the birds chirping in the trees. For a moment, it was perfect. Janice could stay like this all day.

And then the sad look on Rema’s face returned. She turned away and pulled herself out of Janice’s arms, getting to her feet. Janice had to stop a whine from escaping her throat.

“We shouldn’t have done that.” She glanced back at Janice. “Now who knows how much trouble you’ll get in. I’m off limits, I’m not allowed to date anyone.” Janice raised an eyebrow and smirked, standing up and brushing off her skirts.

“Well I hardly think that this counts as dating someone. And besides, who’s going to tell them? Me? _You_?” Rema blushed, looking back down at the ground. She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, trying to find the right thing to say.

“But my parents…”

“Will never find out.” Janice reassured. “Look, if you’re really so convinced that you’re going to be married off soon, you may as well make the most of the time you have left. And besides, who cares what your parents say? It’s not like they’re the king and queen or anything.” Rema snorted. She smiled and looked at Janice.

“...Yeah, okay. You’re right about that at least.” Janice smiled

“Of course I am. But, we have been here a rather long time. Perhaps we should go before someone comes looking for you.” Rema looked briefly surprised, and then mildly disappointed, but she nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah we should. We shouldn’t leave together, that would look suspicious. There are, like, four different entrances to the orchard. I’ll go out one and then you can go out another one maybe… five minutes later?” Janice nodded.

“Until next time, Rema.” She said. Rema startled at the use of her real name, but it quickly melted into a genuine smile.

“See you later, Janice.” And on that note, she turned and started walking through the trees. Janice watched her until she was out of sight, wandered around for a few more minutes, and then left the other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is Prinxiety and Dukeceit centric. Don't worry, Logicality is coming up. This is the last of my prewritten chapters so it might be a little while before I post the next one. Also: Janice and Rema are just so much fun to write, especially when they're together. It's great, I absolutely love these chaotic bastards.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pamela meets her idol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally none, this is pure fluff

Pamela brushed her fingers against the spines of the books. She was in the library, just browsing, trying to find something good to read. Emily and Renae were out on a date, so she was by herself today. There was something bitter about that statement, but she chose to ignore it in favor of reading.

The library was a quiet place, only a few other people were here, and for the most part, they didn’t stick around long. They chose the book they were looking for and moved back to their rooms to read, or they took it to read for later. So the library was mostly empty, and she didn’t really mind that. She was never a fan of big crowds anyway.

Her fingers stopped over a book title that caught her attention.  _ The Silver Mirror.  _ It sounded promising. She took it off and admired the embroidery on the leather cover, before opening to a random page and reading through it. She flipped through a few more pages and read them before deciding to hold onto it for later. She tucked it under her arm and kept searching. She never left without at least two or three books.

She didn’t notice the other person in the library, never even saw them coming. Didn’t notice they were in the same row. Didn’t notice their dark skin or their black hair. Didn’t notice the square glasses that sat on their face, or their dark blue dress with a skirt that hung puffed out ever so slightly and barely touched the ground.

She must have been truly lost in her own mind, because she did not see the figure as she grew closer to it, and only snapped out of her thoughts when she bumped into them. Immediately, she took a step back, preparing to apologize and move out of the way. But when she saw who it was, she froze. She took a few steps back and stumbled, falling onto the floor. She winced as her book hit it with a resounding thud.

Lola stood over her, looking surprised to see her, as if she hadn’t been expecting to find someone else. To be honest, Pamela hadn’t been expecting it either. She smiled apologetically at Pamela, and Pamela’s heart did a somersault.

“Apologies, I should have watched where I was going.” She offered her hand out, and Pamela hesitantly took it. Her heart was hammering in her chest, the blood pumping in her ears. She was so nervous, she was sure that her face must have been as red as a tomato.

Lola was giving her a very strange look, and Pamela raised her shoulders self consciously.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, truly it was my fault.” Pamela snapped out of it, and blinked a couple of times.

“H-huh?” Lola tilted her head to the side.

“Your face was red. That usually indicates embarrassment. I assure you, there is nothing to be embarrassed about.” Pamela realized that she was misinterpreting it and silently thanked whatever god was listening.

“O-oh, um… yeah… I guess I am a little embarrassed. You just… surprised me.” She rubbed the back of her head. Lola offered her a smile and Pamela decided right there and then that she was dead. There was no way she could survive that smile.

“Well, I apologize for startling you. I do not usually find many other people in the nonfiction section.” Pamela blinked and scanned the book titles, before realizing that yes, she was among the nonfiction books.

“I… I guess I didn’t realize I moved out of the fantasy section.” She laughed awkwardly. “Not that there’s anything wrong with nonfiction, of course. A lot of people enjoy nonfiction, to be honest I do like it, though not as much as I like fantasy. I know a few different authors and my father is a writer himself so…” She drifted off, realizing that she was rambling and there was no way Lola was interested in that stuff.

However, Lola was standing just a little bit straighter, eyes wide and curious. Her eyes drifted down to the book in her hand, and she bit her lower lip.

“Your father is a writer?” Pamela hesitated. That was what she was focusing on? Not the fact that Pamela was making an absolute fool of herself? Oh whatever. She nodded, and Lola’s face lit up. “What kind of writing does he do?”

“Oh um… he writes nonfiction, mostly. He’s written a book on the war that happened a few years ago, he wrote one about the famine that wiped out half the population about a century ago, you know, that kind of stuff.” Lola smiled.

“I think I may have read some of his work in the past. He is a talented author.” Pamela nodded and smiled fondly at the memory that came to her.

“Yeah, he really is.”

_ She was very young, perhaps only six or seven, but she already knew that she loved watching her father work. He sat, hunched over his desk, his pen flying across the page, leaving words on spaces that had been previously blank. _

_ She approached him, and tugged on his pant leg. He looked up, before peering down at her and smiling warmly at her. He reached down and scooped her up, before setting her on his desk. _

_ “Hello sweetheart.” He said. _

_ “Whatcha writing Papa?” She asked. He laughed and proceeded to describe the historical event he was writing about. It was a coronation festival of Queen Aubrey, who was one of the kingdom’s greatest rulers in history. He then went on and talked about all of Queen Aubrey’s accomplishments, and how she brought the kingdom to prosperity. _

_ “I want to be just like her.” Pamela breathed, her small voice full of awe and childish wonder. Her father smiled at her. _

_ “I’m sure you will be, my dear.” Her mother came through the doors just then. _

_ “John, have you seen…” She drifted off when she saw the two of them. She sighed fondly and shook her head. “Pamela sweetheart, you shouldn’t bother your father while he’s working.” Pamela pouted, and her father chuckled and ruffled her hair. _

_ “It’s alright, dear, I don’t mind. That being said, I’m almost done for the day. Why don’t you go help Mother with dinner?” Pamela brightened at the suggestion. Cooking was one of her favorite things to do, and though they technically didn’t need to, they enjoyed preparing their own meals every once in a while. Her mother sauntered over to her and picked her up, spinning her around once as she shrieked in joy and dissolved into giggles. _

_ “Come on, my little angel. Let’s start preparing dinner.” She kissed her husband on the head, before walking out the door to his study, the small child still in her arms. _

Pamela blinked as the memory ended, and realized that Lola was still staring at her. Oh boy, this was awkward. She laughed and  _ oh god she sounded like a strangled cat _ but Lola didn’t seem to mind.

“So… you enjoy fantasy?” She asked, angling her head towards the book tucked under Pamela’s arm. Pamela looked down at it and grinned sheepishly.

“Yeah. I just think it’s really fun to see all these different worlds where different kinds of magic and all sorts of creatures lurk. And I mean, there is technically magic in this world but I’ve never seen it myself so… it’s just fun to imagine.” Lola nodded.

“I believe I have a few suggestions, but it depends on what kind of fantasy you’re looking for. There’s high fantasy, domestic fantasy, space fantasy, and many more.” Pamela didn’t know what to say to that. She eventually just settled for a shrug.

“I mean… just fantasy in general is fine. I will read just about anything, really. As long as it has magic in it somewhere then that’s good enough for me. Obviously there are the classics, which I’ve read a couple of. I have to admit, they’re good if you’re looking for something that really makes you think. However the plot in some of those are really convoluted and hard to follow, so I don’t usually seek them out unless they’re recommended to me. Space fantasies are interesting, but they tend to focus more on alien civilizations and science than actual magic, and therefore they do tend to fall under the sci-fi category which is… fine? But again, not really my thing.” Lola nodded.

“You seem very well versed in the topic of literature.” Pamela shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck, laughing awkwardly.

“Well I mean it’s kind of a requirement when your dad is an author.” Lola nodded.

“I suppose it is. Well if you’re looking for high fantasy, there’s  _ Black and White  _ by Misty Banks, which is obviously a pseudonym. There’s also  _ The Red Flower _ by the same author as the one you’re holding…” Pamela nodded along, only half listening and smiling down at the floor. Lola Payne,  _ the  _ Lola Payne, was talking to her! And she was holding it together! Well… for the most part anyway.

“-gether?” Oh shoot, she had just been asked a question! This is what she gets for not paying attention. What was she supposed to say? She hadn’t even heard the actual question!

“Uh… could you repeat that?” Oh god she probably sounded like an idiot! Could she be any more obvious? Lola probably knew that she wasn’t paying attention and then she was going to think she was rude and insensitive and-

“I asked if you would like to read with me.” Pamela felt the heat return to her face and oh for heaven’s sake why did she have to be this way?

“Uh… what do you… mean by… that…?” Oh for the love of- what was she doing? She had been doing so well! This was a mess, there was no way to salvage this conversation. Lola seemed oblivious to her discomfort, which was probably for the better. She didn’t feel like explaining to her crush why she looked like she was going to pass out at any second.

“Well, it’s not often I find someone as interested in literature as I am. Most people don’t like to analyze books or look any deeper into them than the surface level. It’s nice to find someone who actually cares about as much as I do.” Pamela took a deep breath. She could do this. Lola was just a person, just like Emily, just like Renae, just like her. She had to remember that and just talk to her like she would talk to any other person. A small voice in her mind told her all of this, and for once, she listened to it.

“Oh, sure. I don’t have anything better to do.”  _ See? Was that so bad Pam?  _ The voice whispered. It sounded like Emily. Lola smiled at her, and that smile was so beautiful. She felt heat in her cheeks again, but it wasn’t as intense this time. Perhaps because she’s not making an absolute fool of herself and embarrassing herself in front of her crush?

“Excellent! Follow me, there’s a space I always go to whenever I’m reading.” She led Pamela through the shelves, towards the very back of the library. Within the rows and rows of books, so complicated and intricate it was more like a maze than a library, there was a small nook, tucked away from everywhere else. In this small nook there was a cushioned chair, a couch, and a small coffee table.

“I’ve never seen this place before…” Pamela breathed, taking in the small sight. It was cozy, very cozy. She liked it, there was something about it that reminded her of her father’s study.

“That’s because I made it. I found this place and figured it could use some furniture. Took me forever to build the couch, physical strength is most definitely  _ not  _ my strong suit, but it was worth it, because now I have a space I can come to whenever I want.” Pamela nodded, trying to process the fact that she had  _ built  _ the furniture.

She sat down on one end of the couch, Expecting Lola to take up the chair. To her surprise, she sat down on the other end, curling up into a ball and resting the book on the arm of the couch. She looked adorable like that. Small, even human.

Pamela was struck with the realization that Lola really wasn’t that different from her. She had been idolizing her, making her seem distant and unreachable. But really she was just like Pamela in some ways. They both loved books, they were both quieter, not fond of huge crowds, and disdainful of parties. That all being said, Lola was still far more powerful than she was, and she was still so intelligent and incredible and she still made Pamela’s face turn red with everything she did. 

Still, the realization felt… nice. For the first time, Pamela wondered if maybe she really did have a chance. Maybe the reason everyone else was failing at catching her attention was because they all failed to treat her like an actual person. She herself had a few suitors, none of which were very appealing to her, and they all treated her like a prize to be won. Perhaps that’s where they failed.

She smiled to herself. Maybe this was actually possible. Then again, there was still the fact of Janice… She cracked open her book and tried to read, trying to take her mind off of that topic, but her eyes kept drifting to Lola. She truly was a beautiful and intelligent girl. And maybe Pamela wouldn’t end up with her. But she hoped that whoever did made her happy.

“So.” Lola started, not even looking up from her book. Pamela jumped in her seat, startled by the sudden word. “I’ve seen my sister’s fiance talking to you quite often. You seem quite close.” Pamela’s eyes widened.

“Oh, Emily? Yeah… we’re best friends. We have been since we were children.” Lola smiled fondly.

“I see. The princesses and I have also been friends for a very long time. Our parents introduced us and we’ve grown very close over the years.” Pamela nodded.

“So everyone’s noticed. You know half the court thinks you’re trying to court one of them?” Lola looked up from her book, her eyebrows shooting upward in surprise. Pamela continued on, only mildly surprised that she had never caught on to this despite her sister literally being the central source of court gossip. “Yeah, they can’t agree on which one though. I mean when you think about it, it makes sense. Your parents are very close with the king and queen. A marriage between one of their children and one of the princesses would only bring them closer. And since your sister is already engaged to Emily, it would only make sense for it to be you.” Lola sighed, and closed her book, fully turning to face Pamela.

“Well, yes, politically speaking, it may be a smart move. But I can assure you that I am not romantically interested in either of them, nor am I interested in any of the prospects presented to me thus far. They all seem to think that just because I am powerful, I am automatically supposed to know who they are. They seem offended when I don’t know them.” She rolled her eyes, and Pamela giggled. “I would turn them all away but I’m not allowed to shut any of them down until I’ve ‘Gotten to know them’ first.” She sighed, pursing her lips.

“Sounds like fun. I’ve got a couple suitors on my tail too. Not many, only about two or three, but it doesn’t take very long for even that to get annoying. I can’t imagine having to put up with as many as you do. One of them is like- in his mid thirties! I don’t want to marry someone over a decade older than me! But his family is pretty powerful so there’s a chance that I’ll end up with them. I want to think that my dad wouldn’t do that to me but… our family isn’t very powerful. It would make sense, at the very least. I don’t know though. Hopefully it won’t happen. There’s a good chance he’ll give up after a little bit.” She smiled brittally. Lola frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment.

“If you would like, I could see about getting him off your tail. No matter how powerful they are, they’d have to listen to me. If not me, they’d have to answer to the royal family themselves” Pamela shook her head.

“It probably won’t come to that. But thanks for the offer.” The fact that she would be willing to do that for someone she had just met… lord, did she have any flaws at all? Lola smiled at her.

“It’s no trouble, really. And the offer still stands if you ever change your mind. We’ll just have to see how it goes.” Pamela nodded. A question nagged her in the back of her mind. She remembered Janice, who was honestly one of the most peculiar people in the court. She apparently had a little sister, but Pamela had never seen her before.

“So… is there anyone you are interested in? I mean… you seem pretty close with Lady Lyre.” Lola blinked and tilted her head to the side, almost like a cat. It was adorable.

“Who, Janice? If you are asking if I am romantically involved with her, the answer is no. We are simply rivals, there is no romance in the equation.” Pamela blinked, part of her relieved and part of her… confused.

“Oh… well… you just seemed rather friendly with one another so…” Lola laughed and shook her head.

“We are friendly rivals, our rivalry is more for fun than anything else. It’s nice to have someone to compete with, someone to challenge you. It pushes you to do better. I do not understand the point of being aggressive towards your rival, seeing as to officially be rivals, both parties would have had to consent to it. If one party does not consent, it is not a rivalry, it is simply petty jealousy.” Pamela nodded.

“Well, I guess that makes sense. I never really thought about it that way.” Suddenly she felt sheepish for seeing the two of them and immediately assuming there was something else between them. She felt bad that it never occurred to her that they might just be friendly rivals. Lola laughed and picked up her book once more.

“I assure you that you are not the only one. I’m pretty sure a decent percentage of the court also thinks that we are interested in one another. But rest assured that is not the case.” Pamela smiled to herself.

“Would you be… interested in a relationship with someone?” Lola froze, and thought it over for a moment. She shrugged.

“Perhaps if the right person ever came around, I might be. However, romance is simply not a priority for me.” Pamela nodded, satisfied by the answer. She went back to trying to read her book, still stealing glances every few pages. Lola seemed too wrapped up in her own book to notice.

Eventually, she realized that Emily would be getting back from her date soon, and that she would need to be there to beg her friend for details just like she always did. She stood up abruptly and Lola looked up at her with a questioning look in her eyes. She sent her an apologetic smile.

“I have to go.” Lola nodded silently, and she turned to leave.

“Wait.” Pamela turned to face Lola, surprised. “This was rather enjoyable. Would you mind doing something like this again? Tomorrow maybe?” Pamela’s heart leapt in her chest. Lola was asking her to hang out! She managed to keep her cool as she nodded, but she quickly hurried out of the small area.

Once she was sure that she was out of earshot from her, she squealed. She couldn’t keep the stupid grin off her face as she moved through the hallways to meet up with Emily. She could barely stop herself from skipping.

Emily was already waiting in their usual meeting spot, which was right outside of the space they used as a dance studio. Her face lit up when she saw her best friend, before she noted the expression on Pamela’s face and smirked.

“Someone looks happy.” Pamela bit her lip and looked at the ground, still smiling. “Something happened with Lola didn’t it?” She nodded, trying to hold herself back from telling her everything. “Well, come on then, spill.” That was all the invitation she needed. The words gushed out of her as she described her encounter with Lola.

She described their initial meeting, their conversation, and how Lola invited her to read with her. Finally, she told Emily about how she agreed to do it again tomorrow. Emily grinned brightly, clasping their hands together and laughing.

“That’s amazing Pam! I’m so proud of you!” She hugged her best friend. Pamela pulled back, a blush on her pale skin. Emily looked so genuinely happy for Pamela, it made her feel so good. She grinned mischievously at her friend.

“Now it’s your turn. Tell me everything about your date with Renae.” Emily’s face turned bright red, and she rubbed her forearm self consciously.

“Well, she took me on a picnic. We rode out to this absolutely gorgeous place on the edge of the woods, and there wasn’t as much food as she usually packs when we go on those things, and I was confused, until afterwards we rode down to the city and wandered around the market for a few hours. We tried out all the free samples and anything that I liked she bought for me. It was… so freaking amazing.” She sighed dreamily and Pamela had to laugh. Emily looked up, mildly offended, but Pamela just snorted again.

“It sounds like it was a lot of fun, Em.” Emily smiled.

“It was. Anyway, what do you want to do now?” Pamela shrugged.

“We could go back to my room and complain about how bored we are to one another without making any actual attempts to do something about it.” Emily giggled.

“Sounds like a plan.” She grabbed Pamela’s hand and dragged her down the hallway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pamela: I need to stop idolizing Lola. She's a normal human being, just like me.
> 
> Lola: *Does anything*
> 
> Also Pamela: *Fangirling intensifies*


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the parents!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Cursing, minor homophobia

Rema sighed for what had to be the sixth time in five minutes. She couldn’t help it, she was absolutely enchanted. The feel of Janice’s lips against hers was almost too much to handle, even thinking about it brought the blood rushing back to her face. 

It had been a couple days, and she still wasn’t over it. Her sister had teased her relentlessly for it, but for once, Rema couldn’t be bothered to push back. Ramona got bored of trying to instigate a response and left, presumably to find the woman that she herself was infatuated with. Otherwise known as Janice’s step sister. All of her thoughts were now completely consumed by this woman who kissed her.

Rema had kissed some people before. When she was thirteen she had been dared by her sister to kiss a guy that she thought was cute. He was a good kisser, but ultimately, it didn’t go anywhere. He didn’t want to get in trouble and besides, he had already had a crush on someone else. There was a girl when she was fifteen that she tried dating for a few weeks. She wasn’t very physically affectionate, while Rema was. They broke up because they just decided that they weren’t meant for one another.

There were a few other crushes, most of which didn’t go anywhere, and to be honest, she didn’t see the big deal between the girl guy thing. Like, why was your partner’s gender such a big deal? She didn’t care what gender she dated. As long as they loved her like she loved them, why did it matter?

Regardless, none of her crushes lasted very long. None of them had stuck around as long as Janice. And none of them had ever tried to make the first move before, or shown any actual interest in her. That was her first  _ real  _ kiss, and it felt great. She wouldn’t mind doing it again with Janice, she was after all a really good kisser.

Her heart fluttered in her chest as she remembered Janice’s words.

_ My parents will never find out.  _ It was hard to wrap her head around it. As a kid she had thought her parents were all knowing. Even now, the idea that they could not know something was hard to believe. The prospect of not just not telling them, but actively hiding it from them, was a difficult one to process. 

“Still thinking about Lady Lyre?” A voice came out of nowhere, startling her and causing her to jump. She whipped around and saw her sister’s smug face staring at her. 

Rema blushed and scowled at the floor, almost pouting. “You need to stop sneaking up on me like that!” Ramona rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“I wasn’t trying to. But your head is so high up in the clouds that you didn’t even hear me. I mean, I wasn’t trying to be subtle. Hell, I could probably bang pots in your ears and you wouldn’t even notice.”

Rema smiled. “Wanna test that theory?” Ramona groaned playfully, but her expression soon grew serious.

“Look, I didn’t just come here to tease you, though now that I’m here I might as well…” She trailed off for a moment, before shaking her head and continuing. “The reason I’m here is… Mom and Dad want to have dinner with us.” Rema sucked in a breath, staring at her sister, as if waiting for her to take it back. Waiting for her to tell her that it was a joke. She didn’t.

Dinner with their parents didn’t actually happen too often. Most of the time, their parents were too busy with meetings and paperwork and whatever else they had to do as the rulers of the kingdom to make it to dinner. But on the rare occasion that they could make it, it was always rough for the twins.

Normally dinner could be as casual as they wanted. They could invite friends to join them, slouch in their seats, dress informally. Half the time they just showed up in their sleepwear. Ramona once slept through the majority of the day and then showed up to dinner dragging a blanket behind her. 

But with their parents, they had to dress up nicely, they had to sit up straight, and it was always just the four of them, if not, the four of them and Lola’s family. They expected absolute perfection from their children, despite the fact that other events around the castle usually took on a more casual tone.

“Are you sure?” Rema’s voice was barely above a whisper. Truth be told, she hadn’t seen her parents in weeks. Lola usually organized her schedule, her parents had very little to do with it. It seemed rather odd. One day Rema was going to be queen, so one would have thought that they would spend more time with her to make sure she was ready for that day. But that day didn’t seem to be coming any time soon, and so they barely paid attention to their children at all.

Ramona nodded, chewing on her lower lip.“They say that it’s just going to be the four of us. They have some things that they want to discuss with us.” Son of a- 

“Well” Rema said with a shaky laugh. “How long do we have until dinner?” Ramona glanced out the window.

“A couple of hours, maybe? I don’t know, I’m not good at specific times. But they said it’s at seven, and it’s about… two pm now? So we have about four hours to panic about this and one hour to actually get ready. Or maybe three hours to panic and two to get ready? I don’t know, Remee!” She started wringing her hands, her eyes darting around the hallway. Her breathing was beginning to speed up as well. Rema gripped her sister’s forearms.

“Get yourself together!” She shouted, while shaking Ramona back and forth. She ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath. “Alright, this is fine. We still have plenty of time before dinner to get ready, and dinner rarely lasts more than an hour. We’ve put up with a lot worse.” Ramona nodded, taking a deep breath.

“Okay, you’re right. Let’s go find Lola, I’m sure she can find something to distract us for the time being.” Rema nodded and silently took her sister’s hand. Ramona gave it a squeeze and sent her a quick smile.

Rema tilted her head to the side.“How long do you think it’ll take me to weird them out enough for them to leave the dinner table?” Ramona thought about it for a moment.

“Depends. What do you have planned to talk about?”

“I don’t know. Probably the human immune system. It’s actually really interesting, I’ve been reading about human anatomy with Lola. It’s kind of gross, but also really cool. Or-  _ or,  _ I could speak nothing but italian for the entire meal and wait for them to get mad enough to scream at me.” Ramona giggled and started pulling Rema down the hallway.

“That would certainly get on their nerves. How do you even know italian? No one else speaks it and I’m pretty sure we’ve never had any guests that speak it.” Rema shrugged and grinned at her twin.

“That’s for me to know, and you to never find out.” Ramona rolled her eyes and continued on.

The silence in the air was thick as the twins waited for their parents to arrive. Rema resisted the urge to tap her foot on the ground, it got on her parents’ nerves, and if they came in and heard her, they would snap at her.

They had spent hours pulling themselves into dresses that were much too tight. Ramona had fussed with her hair for a full thirty minutes before settling for a tight braid, so tight that you couldn’t even tell it was curly, whereas Rema almost didn’t do anything with hers. She eventually decided to pull it up into a high ponytail, and skipped the makeup. She didn’t need to be  _ that  _ formal, and eating with makeup on was always such a pain. Ramona had gone with a light pink lipstick and mascara, dusting a light blush on for good measure.

Their parents were running late. They had been sitting at the table for nearly ten minutes, and there was no sign of them. But that was to be expected. They were the king and queen, after all. They had an entire kingdom to run.

_ Maybe they won’t show at all.  _ Rema thought, her eyes drifting to Ramona to see her fidgeting with her bracelet.  _ Wouldn’t that be something? For us to get all dressed up and then they don’t even show.  _ Just as she thought that, the door opened, and a servant slipped in.

“Their Majesties, the King and Queen, have arrived.” Jesus, they needed to be announced to a family dinner? Somehow, Rema always managed to forget just how haughty her parents were. Their mother came in first. She was wearing a dress made of purple satin with a rather low neckline. Her hair was tied up in a bun with not a hair out of place.

Rema couldn’t help thinking that Ramona’s little crush pulled the color off better than she did. Little as in she was short, not that Ramona’s crush on her was small. She was  _ tiny _ . Their father came in next, looking as regal as ever. He was still wearing his crown, so he either didn’t have time to take it off, or purposefully left it on. It was most likely the latter. If he had wanted it off, he would have taken all the time he pleased.

They strutted over to the table, their heads held ridiculously high, and lowered into their seats. Immediately, servants came out of the shadows to serve the first course.

At first, no one said anything, they simply ate in silence. Rema almost dared to hope that they didn’t want to talk about anything and just wanted to have dinner with their daughters for once. It was a silly thought, they never really cared about their daughters unless they needed them for something. And sure enough, it soon came. The dreaded conversation starter.

“So, what have you two been up to?” They both knew not to answer with more than a very brief answer. Apparently when she was younger, their mother had been quite the socialite. Now she was anything but. How that could possibly be true, neither of them knew. 

“Nothing much, Mother. Certainly nothing you would be interested in. Hanging around with Lola and my other friends.” Ramona answered. She chose every word carefully, because all it took was one wrong word to set their parents off. Their mother’s mouth twisted into a scowl.

“Hanging around with girls?” Uh oh. This was clearly a trap. Ramona couldn’t lie, her parents wouldn’t believe her, but at the same time, answering truthfully would make them more upset. 

“Yes Mother.” She answered, cringing slightly. Their mother tilted her head to the side.

“Are you still interested in girls?” Rema sighed internally. At least they weren’t yelling. They asked this every time, and her sister’s answer always remained the same. It drove Ramona mad to no end, because sexuality wasn’t something you could change, and she hated that their parents couldn’t seem to understand that.

“Yes, Mother.” Ramona said, carefully staring down at her plate of food. Their mother’s gaze turned to Rema, and she had to stop a grimace. Here we go.

“And what about you? Are you still… what was it you called yourself…” There were a few moments of silence

“ _ Pansexual _ .” Rema said, exasperated on the inside but trying to keep her temper in check. They  _ never _ remembered her sexuality, she had to constantly remind them. It was quite frustrating, you’d think they’d either learn or at least make the effort to remember, but  _ no. _ They couldn’t care less.

Their mother sighed. “I suppose we’ll just have to give it more time then.” Four years and they still thought it was a phase. Four. Years. After that they lapsed into silence once more, and though it was incredibly tense, Rema was thankful for it. She was also thankful Ramona thought not to bring Virgo up, or Janice for that matter. That would have been a disaster.

When the second course was brought out, their father cleared his throat, and turned his gaze to look directly at Rema.

“Your mother and I have been discussing marriage prospects.” Rema nearly choked on her food. Of all the things she did not want to talk about, that was damn near the top of the list. She coughed a few times, before realizing that her parents were staring at her and quickly swallowed her food. She offered them a tight smile.

“Oh?” She said sweetly. She wanted to do nothing more than to grab the knife lying next to her plate and chuck it across the room. Maybe if she was lucky it would break one of the many vases filled with flowers that were almost never replaced unless their parents were coming. The vases were filled with aconite and orange lilies tonight. They were a striking combination. She wondered what it would be like if she threw the butter knife into it. Would the vase explode or collapse? How far would the glass shards travel?

“Yes.” Her father’s voice drew her out of her thoughts. “As you know, our neighbor and ally The Sanders Empire is crowning its new king in just about six months. They’re looking to marry off or at least engage one of the other princes by then. It could be a good chance to solidify the alliance further.”

“Why do we need to solidify it further though?” Slipped out before Rema could stop it. She clamped her mouth shut, and Ramona gave her the side eye. “We’ve already been allies for decades. I’ve never even met these guys though, we haven’t interacted for at least almost twenty years!” Ramona pinched her under the table, and Rema realized what she just said.

“Tch.” Their mother said, rolling her eyes with an air of disdain. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You don’t know a thing about ruling a kingdom.”  _ And whose fault is that?  _ Thankfully, the statement was just in her head this time. It would have been disastrous if she had let that slip past her lips.

“Right, of course.” Is what she said instead. There was a bit of sarcasm hidden in there, but thankfully their parents seemed to either not hear it or ignore it. Dinner continued on like this, with many one sided attempts at conversation that were met with short, concise answers. It’s not like their parents cared to hear anything more.

At one point, Ramona started twirling her spoon around in her hand, struggling not to look bored. Their mother’s eyes snapped to her, which caused Ramona to drop her spoon. Their mother’s face turned upwards in a sneer, and Rema had to repress a groan.

“Ramona, don’t do that. It’s improper.” Ramona pursed her lips, as if biting back a response. Which she probably was, if Rema knew anything about her sister.

“Sorry Mother.” The queen made a “hmph” noise, turning back to her plate. As soon as Rema was sure neither of their parents were looking, she turned her head to face Ramona and made a mock sneer resembling the one the queen had made just moments earlier.

Immediately, Ramona had to hold back laughter. She pressed her lips together, and stared down at her lap, trying hard not to smile. Once she was sure that she wasn’t going to burst out with laughter, she looked back up and leaned over to Rema.

“Don’t. You’ll get us in trouble.” She whispered.

Rema rolled her eyes and smirked mischievously. “I don’t really care about getting in trouble.” They both knew it was a lie. Rema couldn’t stand being in trouble with her parents. She caused constant chaos around the castle, but didn’t fear her parents getting involved because they had more pressing things to worry about than their trickster daughter. If her parents ever actually got involved… Rema would most certainly have a mental breakdown.

“What are you two whispering about?” Their father asked. His tone was conversational enough, but there was something dangerous lurking beneath it.

“Nothing Father.” The girls replied in unison. Their father huffed and eyed them suspiciously for another moment before going back to his food.

After dinner, their parents got up in tandem and stalked out the door, leaving their daughters alone in the room. They both let out a sigh of relief, with Ramona slumping against her chair almost immediately. Rema waited for her plate to be cleared before thunking her head down against the table. She picked up the knife and jammed it into the table cloth, knowing that it wasn’t sharp enough to make any more than a scratch.

“That was an experience.” Ramona said, lolling her head to the side. “Thank God we don’t have to do that more often. I don’t think I could handle it.” Rema sighed and nodded, agreeing with her sister.

“You’d think with all the parties they throw that they’d be more casual about the whole thing, but when you think about it… they hardly ever actually attend them. They mostly just spread the word and then don’t show up.” Ramona made a noise of agreement and stood up. 

“I think I’m going to go to bed. Honestly this dress is so tight I can barely breathe, that’s how I know it was made by one of the seamstresses and not by me.” Ramona liked to sew, that was what she did. But their parents didn’t like it, they didn’t think it was “proper” for a princess to be doing that kind of work. Therefore, Ramona always made sure to wear something that she didn’t create when meeting with their parents.

“Alright, g’night sis.” Rema lifted her hand without moving her head, and she heard Ramona leaving. She sighed and waited another moment before getting up. It was about eight pm now. The sun would be setting, but was it too late to head to the sparring grounds to watch a few of the last rounds? She wasn’t really a fighter, that was more Ramona’s area of expertise. She was decent with a bow and don’t get her wrong, hand her a weapon and she could still do more than a fair amount of damage. But when it came to actual tactics and form and stuff like that? She just didn’t have the patience to learn it.

She decided to see if there was anybody left, and if not, to head to the library. The great thing about being a princess is that you could go anywhere and no one would question you. Then again, with Rema’s reputation, she could still do anything, but the number of suspicious stares she received when going anywhere was truly impressive. She left the room, and started waltzing down the hall.

~~~~~~

Virgo hadn’t been expecting to bump into the princess. She had been on her way to her room, which was on the far side of the castle, on the very edge. It was far removed from the rest of the castle, so that she had more privacy. She had moved there after her father had died, hoping to get away from everyone and their sympathetic smiles and suspicious glances. That was how it used to be. Most of the looks she received were sympathetic, but as time moved on and she became further and further removed from everyone, the sympathy went away and suspicion took its place.

Yet she found herself turning the corner and seeing none other than Princess Ramona standing right in front of her. She was staring out one of the humongous windows at the garden below, and Virgo wondered what she was thinking about. She came up besides the princess, and dimly she wondered when she had gotten so bold as to approach her first.

Ramona noticed her almost immediately, of course. She turned her head to the side and tried her usual smile, but Virgo could see something tired behind it. 

“Hello Virgo. You’re looking lovely as always.” Really? She wasn’t sure if Ramona was just trying to be nice, but there was something soft in her eyes. Virgo was wearing an off the shoulder dress with puffy sleeves that was actually a shade of light green instead of a darker color palette. She had just felt like wearing something lighter. She herself had felt lighter in the past few days. It was amazing.

She took in the princess’s appearance. She was wearing a yellow dress that accented her curves and looked… quite frankly, a bit uncomfortable. It was definitely not something the princess would usually wear, though she did look good in it. She was wearing makeup, and her hair was done up so tightly that if Virgo hadn’t seen what it looked like when it was down, she would have assumed it was straight.

“You look nice.” She said offhandedly. Ramona stared at her, and Virgo realized that had to be the first time she ever genuinely complimented the princess. But it was true. She did look nice. She looked more than nice. She looked absolutely gorgeous everytime Virgo saw her.

“Dinner with the parents.” She said. Virgo noted the way she grimaced as she said it, and pursed her lips. If the grimace told her anything, it was that it was most likely similar to Virgo’s family dinners.

“Well still. That dress looks good on you.” She resisted the urge to reach out and touch it just to feel what fabric it was made out of. 

Ramona’s lips quirked upwards in a smile and she smoothed her hand over the skirt. “Really? I don’t know, I feel like it makes me look big boned and kind of awkward.”

“Oh please, nothing could make you look bad.” She didn’t realize she had said that aloud until she saw Ramona’s face. It was a pleasant red, and suddenly Virgo’s face was burning. She hated when she blushed, she thought it was ugly. Her white skin was not a good backdrop for it, but she seemed to be doing it more and more.

“Aww, that’s really sweet actually.” Ramona said. Virgo scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Yeah, well whatever. Don’t read into it too much, It’s just a fact.” Oh god that was even worse. She should probably just shut up before she died of embarrassment. 

“Well, I personally don’t like it.” Ramona said, adorably oblivious as always. Wait- adorably? “It wasn’t made or designed by me, and I design nearly all of my dresses. It’s far too tight around the waist and the chest, they didn’t get any of the measurements right! But my parents don’t exactly approve of my hobby, so I don’t like to wear any of the dresses I sew whenever we eat with them.” 

“You sew?” Somehow, that was all she seemed to get out of that sentence. Ramona nodded and smiled sheepishly.

“I do… it’s a lot of fun and it’s really calming. Whenever I’m stressed I’ll go to my room and work on embroidery. Something about the small repetitive motions helps soothe my nerves.” 

Virgo nodded and rested her arms on the windowsill. “I would have thought you’d go to the sparring grounds. That’s what everyone else seems to think you’d do.” 

Ramona quirked her lips and sighed. “Nah, I go to the sparring ground when I need to work off tension. Frustration. It does nothing for my stress levels, in fact, it probably increases them. People seem to just assume that because I like fighting that’s all I do. It’s kind of annoying when you’re defined by one thing about yourself.” Virgo nodded, she knew what that felt like. Ever since her father’s execution that’s all people saw. The poor girl who lost her father and now hides in the corner and hates everything.

Sometimes it was easier that way. It meant people didn’t try to approach her. The truth was that she just didn’t want to talk to people who don’t really care about her. She didn’t want to talk to someone who was only interested in her “tragic backstory.” 

“So.” The princess continued. “What are you doing out here?” Virgo shrugged and sighed. She was kind of tired, even though it wasn’t that late. She knew that she’d end up in bed soon, but would spend another three hours thinking about the universe. It was kind of her thing.

“I was heading back to my room. I’ve had enough of the world for one day.” Ramona giggled and nodded, a small smile spreading across her face. Something inside of Virgo warmed at the thought that she was making the princess smile.

“That’s not a bad plan.” Ramona said, her gaze returning to the window. “I was thinking about doing the same, unless… I could escort you down to your rooms.” Virgo hesitated. Usually escorting someone meant touching them, and she wasn’t yet at the point where she felt comfortable letting anyone other than the princess touch her.

As if she had read her thoughts, Ramona held up her hands in a peaceful gesture. “I wouldn’t have to touch you. I know you’re sensitive about that stuff.” She didn’t ask why, didn’t want an explanation, she just accepted it, and moved on. Still, Virgo found herself wanting to explain it to her anyway.

“It’s nothing personal.” She said, hiding her hands behind her back. “It’s just the last person who touched me besides Janice was my mother, and she’s not…” She shuddered at the memory. The argument that had led up to her getting slapped across the face. That combined with the fact that it had only been a week since her father’s execution… it was too much to handle. Two years. Two years without any physical contact from anyone besides her sister. Goddamn she was touch starved.

Ramona nodded. “I understand. But my offer still stands. I’d be happy to walk you to your room if you’d like.” 

Virgo bit her lower lip. “People would talk.” Ramona shrugged, as if she didn’t care.

“Then let them. Who cares about what they say?” Virgo hesitated again. She really wanted to say yes…

“My reputation is bad enough as it is. And I wouldn’t want to stain yours.” Ramona sighed softly, and for a moment she raised her hand, as if to touch her, but lowered it again.

“I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.” Virgo pressed her lips together and thought it over for another moment. Finally, she looked up and met the princess’s eyes.

“Alright.” Ramona smiled again, and they started walking down the hall, towards Virgo’s room. The walk was silent, mostly, but it was a comfortable silence. They ended up going through the gardens, which were absolutely lovely at night. Some of the flowers only bloomed at night, while others closed up when the sun set. It was like a completely different garden. Moonflowers opened among the paths, their white petals reflecting moonlight and making them glow. They stopped at a fountain in the center. Glass flowers resembling water lilies floated on the surface of the water.

Finally, after leaving the gardens and walking in complete silence for a while, she stopped in front of her room. Ramona seemed only slightly surprised by how far they had had to walk, but she refused to read into that. Virgo smiled shyly at the ground, her face heated again.

“Thanks for walking me here.” She said. “Being alone in the halls for too long tends to make me antsy.” Ramona offered her a grin, her face dusted with a light red as well. 

“It was no problem. Have a goodnight, Virgo.” 

“You too, Ramona.” Ramona blinked a couple times, and Virgo realized she used the princess’s first name. But the princess made no move to correct it, and she didn’t feel like correcting it either. Ramona turned and left, and Virgo wondered when she had started considering the princess a friend.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot: *Needs to get a move on*
> 
> Me: But what if... soft moments...
> 
> Fun fact! Aconite flowers mean hatred and caution, while orange lilies in the most extreme cases can mean hatred and disdain.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just- a bunch of engagement issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Cursing, implied nsfw

Janice hadn’t been expecting the princess to show up at her room, especially so late at night. The moon was well into the sky, and neither of them should have been awake. But she had found herself unable to sleep, and it appeared that Rema had the same problem. She looked frustrated, which told Janice to push aside the fact that she showed up without invite. It didn’t happen very often, people knew better than to invade her “safe” space. But she could forgive it this time, as the princess looked genuinely upset.

“Hello again, Rema. Is something wrong?” Rema didn’t answer verbally, she just gritted her teeth and nodded. Janice stood aside to allow her in. “Do you need someone to talk about it with?” Rema didn’t respond, she just stepped into the room, which was worrying. The princess was a chatty thing, yet she had yet to say a single word. Something serious must be going on with her.

Janice shut the door after the princess had come in and walked briskly over to one of the chairs. Rema was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the ground, sullen. This was not a good sign. It was like she had lost all life, all of the energy that made her Rema. And, if Janice was being honest, that was a little scary.

Janice sat down and leaned forward, resting her head on her hands. “Do you want to tell me what happened or am I supposed to figure it out for myself?” Rema didn’t say anything for a few moments, and Janice wondered if she had even heard her. What if she had been so lost in whatever’s going on that she hadn’t been paying attention? But finally, she responded.

“My parents are discussing marriage options.” Janice raised an eyebrow. Rema looked up to meet her eyes, and Janice was shocked by how lifeless they looked. She looked defeated, and that scared Janice more than anything else. The princess was not the kind to give in, to be defeated. Even if the odds were impossible, she would go down fighting. This… this was completely out of character.

“Were they not discussing them before?” She asked cautiously. The rest of the court had been under the impression that an engagement would be announced any day now. The royal couple had been dropping hints about it for weeks. Surely the princess knew that too?

“Yeah, but not seriously. Now they’re actually looking for someone to marry me off to. And I guess I knew this day would come, but now that it’s actually here… I’m not ready.” Rema stopped and swallowed, her eyes taking on a distinct glassy sheen. “I’m not ready.” She whispered again. 

Janice pressed her lips together. “I don’t think there is anything you could do to be ready. After all, you’re getting engaged to a stranger. There is nothing in the world that could prepare you for that. You don’t know what you’re getting into until you meet them. But you can make the most of it. Whatever happens, you can make it work.” Rema nodded.

“But how do I stop it? I don’t want to ‘make it work,’ I want to be able to marry someone I actually love! How do I tell my parents I don’t want to get married? I don’t want to, it’s not fair! Why shouldn’t I get a say in this?  _ I’m  _ the one whose freedom is being traded away!” She said this with a bit of her old spark, flopping back on the bed. Janice sighed and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“I don’t know, okay? I just… I don’t have the answers to your questions. Knowing the king and queen… they aren’t going to just accept that you don’t want to get married as a reason. They aren’t going to accept you having a lover as an excuse either because it is a weak one. Unless you can give them a legitimate reason why you cannot be married, there is nothing we can do about it.” 

Rema sighed, rolling her head to one side. “I know, it’s just not fair.”

Janice nodded. “A lot of things in life aren’t. There are some things that will always stay the same, and it’s better to just keep going than to try and change them. Maybe not all the time, but in this case…”

Rema sat up, pouting. “Maybe I could run away and then Ramona could be in charge.” She muttered. It sounded like a joke, but with Rema one could never know. Janice sighed and stood up, walking over to Rema and sitting down next to her. She smoothed out the skirts of her dress, before taking the princess’s hand. She didn’t know how to solve this problem, but she wanted to. Call her selfish, but she wanted the princess all to herself. She wanted the princess to be hers and hers alone. She wanted to kiss her until- Nevermind, no need to share that thought with the readers.

Rema placed her head on Janice’s shoulder setting their hands down on the bed. Their fingers were intertwined, and they sat in silence, neither of them knowing what to say.

“You know.” Rema said after a while. “When I am a mother, I’m not going to be anything like my parents. They’re awful. They never bother to teach me anything, and they never have time for me or Ramona. They don’t accept our sexualities, they still think they’re a phase, even though it’s been four years and we’ve both had multiple crushes on girls, and even a few girlfriends. They tell us ‘do this’ and ‘don’t do that’ and it feels like the only time they ever really care about our actions is when we do something wrong. I refuse to be that kind of mother. I’m going to encourage my kids to do whatever they want, dress however they want, and date whoever they want. I’m never going to force them into a marriage.” 

Janice smirked. “You may not have a choice in the marriage matter. It is, after all, a big part of forming alliances.” The princess turned to her, pouting, and Janice had to resist the urge to laugh. At least Rema seemed to have her energy back. 

She sighed and shook her head. “You are far too adorable for your own good.” Janice didn’t give Rema a chance to answer before she pulled her in and pressed their lips together.

It had only been a few days, but she had forgotten what it felt like already. It was even better than she remembered. She smelled nice, like she had actually put on perfume, and now that Janice thought about it, she looked nice too. Not that she didn’t always look good, but she looked cleaner. Well put together. It almost took away some of her charm. But still, she looked good, and Janice wouldn’t mind it if she dressed up like this once in a while.

They broke apart, and Janice looked down at the princess to see her staring at her with this absolutely adorable awestruck look. Then it split into a mischievous smile, and she launched herself at Janice, knocking them both flat on the bed. Janice let out a surprised cry, because she had not been expecting it (should she have been expecting it?), and realized the princess was right beside her.

Rema nuzzled Janice’s cheek with her head, before burying her face in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around one of Janice’s, and looked up at her again. They kissed again, and then again, because why the hell not? Within an hour, Rema was clearly falling asleep. She was on the verge of unconsciousness and kept yawning, and Janice wondered what would happen if the princess fell asleep on her bed. Should she be concerned?

And then Rema was asleep, and she didn’t get a chance to answer that. Welp, it was either sleep next to the princess, or sleep in Virgo’s room, and she chose to sleep in her own bed thank you very much. Virgo’s room was always a mess, her bed was loaded with blankets, and half the time her sister just slept on the floor anyway.

She got up, careful not to disturb Rema, and walked over to the other side of the bed, climbing in and falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

~~~~~~

Lola walked quickly through the hallways. To say she walked would be underselling it, but she would definitely snap at anyone who told her what she was really doing. Lola Payne doesn’t “skip,” she is calm and collected and definitely not in a hurry to meet up with someone. It wasn’t that she was late, it was just that she looked forward to these meetings with Pamela.

In the past few weeks, the suitors had become almost unbearable. But Pamela had become somewhat of a constant. Always there if she needed to talk about something, always willing to listen, and so, so funny. She was a ray of sunshine, and Lola had found herself just looking forward to seeing her smile again.

The princesses were both busy with their crushes. Between Ramona and Virgo’s painfully slow obvious mutual pining, and… whatever Rema and Janice were doing when they snuck off together (she really didn’t want to know), they ended up spending less and less time with one another. After they had come back from the dinner with their parents, they had explained everything to her. Now, a few weeks later, she still didn’t know what to make of it. It didn’t necessarily bother her that they weren’t spending as much time together as they did when they were children, they were adults with their own lives, after all.

And besides, Lola had her own… well crush wasn’t exactly the right word for it, was it? She didn’t feel romantically attracted to Pamela. But there was still a deep affection for her, one that ran deeper than her friendship with the princesses.

Lola pushed open the door into the library, and breathed a sigh of relief. There was something about the library that just made her loosen up. She quickly walked through the maze of shelves, not even browsing like she would have done before. 

She entered their small corner of the library, only half expecting to see Pamela there. They had started out meeting up at three, but it became more and more of a competition to see who got there first, and it had gone so far that their meeting time had been pushed all the way to two. Should Pamela have arrived before her, she expected to enter and see Pamela with a smug grin. She expected Pamela to giggle and make a remark about how she was getting slower.

She was  _ not  _ expecting to see Pamela sitting on the couch, face in her hands, and very clearly crying. Lola was stunned. She had never seen Pamela cry before, and considering they had only known one another for a couple weeks, that was reasonable. But she hadn’t been expecting it, and it was just plain shocking. Usually, she was sunshine personified. She was a bright spot in Lola’s day, a constant source of positivity. To see her upset to the point of tears was… unsettling, to say the least. Even more so than what Janice had said Rema was acting like when she got back from her family dinner.

Pamela didn’t seem like the kind of person to cry for no reason, despite what some foolish courtiers who gossiped about her might say. Whatever happened must have been big.

“...Pamela?” She said hesitantly. Pamela’s head snapped up, and Lola could see just how awful she looked. Her eyes were red rimmed, black tear tracks streamed down her face from ruined makeup. There were bags under her eyes, and she looked tired. She looked really, really tired. Lola hesitantly approached her and sat down next to her.

She reached out a hand and placed it on Pamela’s back. “Pamela what’s wrong?” Pamela sniffed and attempted to wipe the tear tracks away, but really only succeeded in smudging her makeup even more. “Hey hey, calm down.” Lola reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. She gently wiped her friend’s face, clearing away what she could of the ruined makeup without water.

“Pamela look at me.” She said. Pamela was refusing to make eye contact, but Lola gripped her shoulder. “Look at me. Focus on my face. Take a deep breath. In for four seconds, hold for seven, release for eight.” She began tapping out a steady rhythm on Pamela’s shoulder, and demonstrated. After her first breath, Pamela joined her, and after a couple more cycles, she had calmed down.

“Sorry.” She sniffed. “I didn’t mean for you to see me like that. I thought you wouldn’t arrive for a while.” 

Lola smiled gently. “Well then it’s a good thing I arrived early, isn’t it? Now, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Pamela looked down at her hands. She started wringing them, and for a moment Lola wondered if she was going to cry again. Her hand drifted towards the handkerchief in her pocket once more.

But then Pamela looked up, looking resigned but not on the verge of tears. “I… well it’s just that…” She took a deep breath, as if composing herself. “You know that guy I was talking about? The one who was in his mid thirties and was trying to court me?” 

Lola’s mind began filling in the blanks, and she sucked in a breath. “No. Your father, did he…” Pamela nodded miserably. Anger began to rise inside of her. “You mean to tell me your father engaged you to a man you have no romantic interest in, who is over a decade older than you?” 

Pamela bit her lower lip. “It… it wasn’t his fault. Their family is pretty powerful, and ours isn’t. Their offer was too good an opportunity to pass up, and they didn’t really give us a choice. He doesn’t want this anymore than I do.” She drew a shaky breath. “I… I know it’ll be good for my family, though. So I just have to push through it.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Lola stood up. She knew that there was no way she was letting Pamela get married to this guy. “What’s his name, I’ll have a word with his family.” Whatever emotion Lola had expected to cross her face, panic was not it.

“No!” Pamela shouted. She took a deep breath, and waited a few more moments before continuing. “I appreciate the offer, but my family really needs this. If you break off the engagement, they’ll know I told you about this and think I asked you to. I don’t want to drag you into this. Besides, there isn’t much you can do. It’s the Libidine family.” That was a slap to the face. They were one of the most powerful families in court besides Lola’s family. And they were all absolute sleazebags. Their reputation was… less than savory, to say the very least.

Ironically, Pamela’s attempt to talk her out of it made her even more determined to help. Lola thought about it for another moment, before smiling to herself. “I guess I’ll just have to find a more subtle way to do things.” Pamela blinked, surprised. “You aren’t getting married to that man, Pamela. From what you’ve told me, combined with the Libidine’s reputation, he sounds like the kind of person who would take advantage of you. I’m not going to let this happen.” She smiled gently down at her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to fix this.”

With that, she stormed out of the library.

Lola slammed the door to her father’s study open, absolutely seething. She had a plan, she knew what she was doing. For the most part, anyway. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if maybe this was just a tad bit reckless, but she didn’t care. Pamela didn’t deserve what was happening to her, and Lola was determined to get her out of the shitty situation she found herself in.

Her father looked up in surprise when he heard the door banging open. He sighed and rolled his eyes when he saw it was her. “Lola dear, I’m working, can this wait?”

“No it cannot!” She shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. Every minute Pamela remained engaged to that… sleaze was another minute she was threatened. Lola shut the door behind her, and stalked over to one of the other chairs, throwing herself onto it.

Her father sighed and put his pen down. “Whatever girl drama you are having right now, can’t you talk to your mother about it?” 

Lola glared daggers at him. “Well, you’re the closest to the king and queen, therefore the most powerful, and right now, I need  _ your _ help” 

Her father raised an eyebrow. “And what is so important that you must disturb my work to talk to me about it?”

Lola hesitated. How should she explain this to her father without sounding like a fool? She took a deep breath. “Okay, I have a friend who just got engaged.”

“Good for her.” Her father replied.

“No it’s not! The man she’s engaged to is a decade older than her! She has no feelings for him whatsoever, but her family isn’t very powerful and her fiance’s family isn’t giving them a whole lot of choice in the matter.” Her father was staring at her with an unimpressed face. Lola took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling, praying that he wasn’t going to make fun of her request. “And I need your help to break it off.” She finished. Her father snorted, and Lola sighed internally. She resisted the urge to slap him across the face.

Her father picked up his pen and went back to writing. “You think that I can just do that? Your friend is already engaged, and from what you tell me, her family needs this. The best thing you can do for her is let it happen. Her family requires more power and a marriage is the only way to do that.” 

“Then help me break it off and then find her someone else to get engaged to! But I will not let her get married to a Libidine! You know what their reputation is like!” She shouted angrily. Her father never took anything she said seriously!

Her father sighed and shook his head. “And who would that be? What other family is powerful enough to outrank the Libidines?”

“Ours, for one! If you want an example then…” She floundered. Pamela wasn’t going to be happy with anyone she didn’t love. Who would make her the happiest? She thought more and more about this. Pamela was really pretty, that was a fact. There were plenty of people who wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of someone like her. She would need someone who could protect her from those people. Someone who would never attempt anything like that. 

“You can’t even think of an example, can you?” Her father’s voice cut through her thoughts. “If you can find someone who’d be willing to take her on and face the wrath of the Libidines, then please, be my guest. But until then, get out of my study, and stop disturbing my work.”

“What about me!” She blurted. “What if I were to do it?” Her father looked at her like she was crazy. 

“Would you really be willing to do it? After all, you yourself came out to us as aro ace not too long ago.” Lola winced. She knew that doing this would mean she was trapped in a marriage, but this was Pamela. She would want this.  _ She needs this. _

“Of course I’d be willing to do it! Friends get married all the time for the political benefits, and we are more than powerful enough to do this. The Libidines are cowards. They’ll back down as soon as we enter the game.” Her father sighed and stood up.

“While that may be so, I will not have you engaged to someone whose family is so powerless they have to rely on the Libidines to rise in rank.” He shook his head. “Now I will ask you again. Get out of my-”

“Do it or I’ll tell the whole court about your affair with the servant back home.” Her father froze, his eyes widening. “And don’t think I won’t do it. You’re lucky that Renae got all of your traits, else you would have been screwed. You worked so hard to cover it up. It would be a shame if someone were to mess it all up.” She was bluffing, of course. She would never do that to her sister. It would hurt her more than it would hurt anyone else. But Lord Payne didn’t know that. Her father’s jaw went slack. Lola raised her chin in a challenge. After a few moments of silence, he sighed.

“You’re serious about this?” He looked at her, and she saw it. That rare hint of genuine concern, the only reason Lola believed that he still cared about her at all. It didn’t come around often, he was even better at masking his emotions than she was, but it was there. He didn’t want her to get stuck in a situation that she couldn’t get out of.

“I’m sure.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Pamela needs this. She doesn’t deserve to be with the Libidines, she wouldn’t last a day with them.” She shuddered just thinking about it. “At least this way I can protect her from other people who try to hurt her.” 

Her father sighed and nodded. “Alright, I’ll talk to her father. What family is she from?” He walked over to the door, and placed a hand on the handle.

Lola resisted the urge to cheer in victory. “Heart.” Her father sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t say anything, but he left the study, presumably to find Pamela’s father. Lola smiled subtly. She didn’t know if Pamela would be happy with her. But at least this way she could get married to someone in her age range. Someone who wouldn’t force her into anything. She left the study and started down the hall to look for Pamela and tell her the news.

~~~~~~

Pamela wasn’t sure what Lola was planning, but she hoped that whatever happened, she would succeed. The Libidines were known for their… how to put this… their desires. She absolutely did not want to be a part of it. Just the thought of it was… ugh, it made her sick. She had been avoiding her new fiance all day, making excuse after excuse to stay away from him. He honestly made her want to puke. He was so… dirty, and he constantly smelled like alcohol and smoke. They were not a good mix.

Eventually, though, she had run out of excuses. Her fiance was approaching her, a greasy smile on his face. She tightened up, hoping that maybe if he didn’t make any headway in getting to her, he would leave her alone. No such luck it seemed.

“Hello beloved.” He said. If it were anyone else, she might have felt flattered, but as it was, it couldn’t possibly be more disgusting. She swallowed her disgust and turned to look at him. This was the best thing she could do for her family. It was okay, she just had to endure it.

“Hello dear.” She said, plastering on a smile. Calling him any kind of affectionate nickname made her want to scream, but she resisted the urge and tucked her hands behind her back so he couldn’t see how much they were shaking. Her… fiance… reached down and touched her chin, and she had to stop herself from yanking herself away from him.

“You are quite the pretty thing. I’ve been trying to win your affection for a while now. Why didn’t you accept sooner?” He laughed, and it was just as horrid as everything else about him. Pamela counted out the four-seven-eight pattern in her head, trying to keep her breathing calm.

“I wanted to give all my suitors a chance.”  _ Until you scared them all away. _ She should have known something was up when the other few boys who had been hanging around her or eyeing her up had suddenly stopped trying to flirt with her. Instead she had breathed a sigh of relief and thought it was over. Turns out, her new fiance had threatened them to get them to leave her alone. Just so that he could have her all to herself.

“Well, it’s just you and me now.” He continued, his smile somehow becoming even more repulsive. “So what do you want to do?” She shivered, and not in a good way. 

“Get away from her.” A familiar voice echoed through the halls. Pamela whipped around to see Lola approaching, fast and confident. Libidine’s face drained of color slightly, but he didn’t move away. 

“Lola!” Pamela breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped away from her fiance and towards Lola, who opened her arms. Pamela flew into them, and Lola wrapped her arms around her. They stayed like that for a few minutes, and Pamela could very well feel the eyes of her betrothed boring into her back, but he didn’t say anything.

Finally, Lola pulled away and stepped in front of Pamela. “What were you planning on doing with my fiance?” Wait-  _ her  _ fiance!?

Libidine laughed. “She’s not your fiance, I’m the one engaged to her. And as such, she is mine to do as I please, and it is none of your business!” 

“Actually.” Another voice spoke. Pamela turned and saw that her father was approaching them with Lord Payne at his side. He was smiling, and that’s when Pamela knew. She  _ knew.  _

_ Lola you absolute genius _ . “Lord Payne has talked with me about the betrothal of my daughter to his.” Her father continued. “After much consideration, I decided to accept his offer. Therefore Lola Payne is in fact, my daughter’s fiance, not yours.” A grin slowly spread across her face. She had to resist the urge to scream, because oh my god what!? She was getting engaged to her crush, one that she’s had for years. 

Lola turned around and Pamela flew into her. Lola wrapped her arms around her and embraced her, a gentle smile on her face. There was one question left up for debate, however. Was Lola actually interested in her, or was she just doing this to get her out of the marriage? She decided that right now, she didn’t care. The relief flowing through her veins was so strong she thought she might pass out right there and then. She took a deep breath, and let it all sink in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Pamela's "Fiancé" won't be coming back into the story. He was just a one time character. And now the interesting stuff can finally start


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here we go. The plot has finally arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this chapter may not be as good as the others. I don't really have an excuse as to why, but I just don't like it as much.
> 
> Chapter Warnings: Cursing, NSFW Mention (making out is mentioned like, once, really briefly)
> 
> ANGST

Virgo couldn’t believe what she had become. She had tried to prevent it, taken steps to make sure it wouldn’t happen, she honestly had, but the truth of the matter was, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from getting attached to Ramona. She was actually looking forward to their meetings now, her feet automatically walking just a bit faster whenever she saw the princess. Whenever Ramona was around her, her heart rate would speed up, her face would heat up, and she would get nervous. Her palms would get sweaty if she stared at Ramona’s hair for too long, and if she kept eye contact with the princess for too long she would start to stumble over her sentences.

Despite this, she felt like she wanted to be with the princess more and more. She wanted to spend more time with her, wanted to be by her side. It got to the point where she was more often than not the one who approached Ramona first, whereas in the beginning it had been the other way around. The confidence she had gained… it was amazing.

Virgo started wondering, how far did the princess’s affection for her actually go? She no longer believed that Ramona was solely interested in her father. She trusted that Ramona wouldn’t take advantage of her and was actually interested in her as a person. But other than that, Virgo had no idea how to describe the exact nature of their relationship. Where did Ramona stand? Where did  _ she  _ stand, for that matter? She seemed to be perpetually stuck between wanting to smack Ramona and wanting to kiss her. She knew how the princess would react to one of those, she had no idea how she would react to the… other thing.

Janice was getting real sick of her, she could tell. Virgo would come back from hanging out with Ramona feeling lighter, and quite frankly a little woozy, but whenever she tried to figure out why she felt like this, Janice would simply roll her eyes at her. It was like Janice had never been in a position similar to hers, which was absolute bullshit. It was only about a month ago she hadn’t even had the courage to say hello to Rema. Eventually, Virgo had to confront the truth. She was  _ in love  _ with the princess. Just the very thought made her shudder.

Virgo was beginning to wonder just how much trust she would place in the princess. How much trust she already  _ had  _ placed in the princess. Was she willing to trust Ramona with the darker parts of herself? The parts that no one other than her and Janice knew about? The ones that got her father… okay let’s not think about that. The princess was a curious thing. Eventually, with the two of them getting closer and closer, Ramona would notice the stranger things about her. She would find out one everything Virgo had worked hard to keep hidden away one way or another, and she was stuck between wanting to tell Ramona so she could just get it over with, or wanting to wait so she could stretch out the time spent with her before the princess’s views of her changed forever.

Another thing was touch. She was pretty sure she’d be comfortable with Ramona touching her at this point, so long as it was small and not sudden, but Ramona hadn’t made any attempt to, so she didn’t know for sure.

Janice’s advice was to “Get over it and just kiss her,” which was easy for her to say, her relationship with the other princess was going great! They made out like every day, and though Janice tried to deny it, Virgo knew that was exactly what they were doing. And yeah, great for her, she was pursuing the woman she was in love with and all that, but that didn’t help  _ Virgo.  _

She stared out the window, and sighed. She really needed to stop overthinking things. She knew that that was what she was doing, but to be honest, that didn’t help her stop. She could just… tell the princess what was on her mind. If Ramona hated Virgo for it, that was that, wasn’t it? It didn’t really matter, she’d just go back to being alone. At least until the guards caught wind of the whole situation. Then… she didn’t want to think about that.

Somehow, however, the thought of the princess rejecting her was worse than the thought of what the king and queen would do. It was terrifying. It made her seize up just thinking about it. She… was scared. Scared that Ramona would turn her back on her. Scared that she wouldn’t want anything to do with her. Scared to be without the princess’s company.

“Hey, are you okay?” A voice asked her. Virgo jumped, startled, and whipped around to see Princess Rema standing behind her, a mildly concerned look on her face. Great, the wildcard of a princess discovering what she was thinking about was just what she needed right now. Thanks universe.

Virgo sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I’ve just got a lot of stuff on my mind.” 

Rema smirked and wiggled her eyes suggestively. “What kind of stuff?” She asked playfully. Virgo didn’t answer for a long time. She didn’t know much about the other princess, despite the fact that her own sister was “Dating” her, if what they were doing could be considered dating. She had no idea what she would do if Virgo told her. Would she run and tell Ramona? Keep it to herself as leverage? She wouldn’t put either of those things past her.

Finally, she shrugged and turned away to face the window again. “I just… I don’t know. Just stuff.”

Rema shrugged. “Well if you ever need to talk, I’m here. Janice has told me a lot about you, she loves you a lot, you know. You’re lucky to have her as a sister. She’d do anything for you.” Virgo smiled gently and nodded, she knew that. The two of them stood in comfortable silence for a while.

“And if you need to know anything about Rara,” The princess said suddenly, ruining the soft moment. “And I mean  _ anything,  _ just talk to me. I know her better than she probably knows herself.” She offered a grin that was a bit too wide and a bit too crazy, but it was still eager and genuine.  _ She really cares.  _ Somehow, the thought made Virgo feel a bit warmer on the inside. 

She nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate it. I just… need a little time to myself.” Rema turned to leave, and Virgo turned back to the window, but something in the back of her mind didn’t want the princess to leave just yet. “Wait.” She said, turning back around. Rema stopped and looked back at her with a questioning look on her face. “How… how good is Ramona at keeping secrets?” She didn’t know why she asked that of all things, it probably sounded shady as hell.

Rema thought about it for a moment before shrugging again. “Honestly, I’d say she’s pretty good. I mean, we traded secrets all the time as kids, and she never shared any of mine. She’s kept the side of me that I don’t want people to see in the dark, so I’d say you can trust her. Why, what do you want to tell her?” Virgo didn’t respond to that. Eventually, Rema realized she wasn’t going to get an answer, and she continued on. “Alright, whatever. I’m gonna go find your sister, see you around.” She waved over her shoulder and left Virgo alone in the hallway. Virgo took a deep breath and began mentally preparing herself. She could do this.

After spending a few more minutes in the hall by herself, she started looking for Ramona. The princess was in the gardens again, which was a common meetup place for them. She was waiting for Virgo, it seemed, and Virgo’s cheeks warmed at that, even though she waited for her every day. Ramona was staring at the blue sky, sitting on the bench, with a faraway look in her eyes, as if she were in a daze. Virgo cleared her throat to announce her arrival and Ramona seemingly snapped out of it, blinking a few times in surprise before her face split into a grin. Surprisingly, the princess wasn’t in a dress today. She was actually wearing what appeared to be clothes made for men, or perhaps they were gender neutral and men just tended to wear them more, with a loose white shirt and a set of comfortable but sturdy pants. Her long brunette curls were tied up in a very messy ponytail. It was a very different picture from what she was used to seeing, but Virgo didn’t hate it.

“Hey V.” Ramona said cheerfully, moving over and patting the seat next to her. Virgo walked over and sat down, noting how sweaty Ramona seemed to be. The princess noticed her gaze and blushed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Oh, uh… yeah. Sorry about all this, I just got done sparring.”

Virgo shook her head. “No no, it’s fine. You look… you look nice with your hair tied back like that.” The blush on Ramona’s face spread. Virgo’s throat went dry at the sight. God she was pretty. Virgo thought about her conversation with Rema. She took a deep breath and decided that it was time to tell her. Her heart sped up, but she did her best to keep herself calm. All she had to do was slowly ease Ramona into the topic. Nothing too bad, she just had to play her cards right and not make any mistakes. Simple.

“H-hey Ramona?” She started cautiously. Ramona turned to face her and offered her a warm, if slightly confused, smile. “What are your thoughts on… magic?” Virgo cringed, wondering if she was coming on too strong. What if Ramona connected the dots and jumped to the conclusion before Virgo had a chance to explain?

Ramona furrowed her brow and frowned a bit, seemingly oblivious to her discomfort. “Um… I guess I don’t really know. To form a proper opinion, I’d need to have experience with magic, or it wouldn’t be fair, really. My parents say it’s the work of the devil, but I don’t really believe that. And besides, the only person I’ve ever met with magic was your father, and he never showed me anything.” Virgo flinched at the mention of her father. Of the sacrifice he had made for her.

Ramona clearly misinterpreted the flinch, as she immediately rushed to comfort her. Raising her hands in a placating gesture. “O-oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. I shouldn’t have brought him up. Virgo I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay.” She sighed, and started fidgeting with the fabric of her long skirt. “I… I was just asking because I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Ramona tilted her head to the side curiously. “What’s going on with you today? You seem nervous. More so than usual.” Virgo didn’t respond, which only seemed to worry the princess more. “Hey… whatever’s going on, you know you can tell me, right? I’d never judge you, you know that.” Virgo wasn’t so sure. She didn’t even know what she would be judging.

After a moment of tense silence, Virgo broke. Tears started falling down her cheeks, and wretched, horrible sobs escaped her throat. She placed her face in her hands, trying to cover up the shame and embarrassment. “I-I’m  _ sorry. _ ” She sobbed.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Stormcloud.” Virgo didn’t comment on the new nickname, like she would have any other day. “Please, tell me what’s wrong. I just… I want to help.” Virgo bit her lip. She still didn’t say anything, but Ramona was staring at her with a pleading expression, looking desperate. Virgo lifted her head and stared at the woman across from her, her makeup running down her face. This was the woman who approached her when everyone else was avoiding her, the woman who befriended her even when Virgo was trying to push her away. She didn’t want to look at her right now, but Virgo owed it to her. She owed it to Ramona to be honest.

“Magic is a very fickle thing.” She said. Ramona’s expression changed to confused, as if she didn’t know where Virgo was coming from. That was reasonable, after all,  _ Virgo _ wasn’t sure she knew where she was coming from. “It’s seen as either a great blessing, or a terrible curse. Good or evil, never anything in between. But no matter what people perceive it as, it stays the same. It slowly takes away everything you’ve worked for, and it slowly destroys everything you have, until you’re left alone, with nothing. And whether or not people see it as good or bad, they don’t see the person behind it. They just see the magic. They don’t know what it does to people.” She sucked in a ragged breath.

“V, I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.” Ramona was desperate. On any other day, Virgo would have laughed at her cluelessness. But as it was, that wasn’t what happened.

“ _ I’m telling you that I have magic. _ ” Virgo blurted, unable to stop herself. Tears immediately began streaming down her face again and she buried her face in her hands once more, unable to look at the princess, whom she had made the mistake of falling for. There was silence, and Virgo could feel her power edging towards her from the shadows cast by the trees. For once, she didn’t push it away. She welcomed it in.

The shadows grew darker around her, the air more chilled. This garden was a very secluded area, and thankfully no one else was around to see it, but the wind began picking up. Had anyone been paying attention to the flowers, they would notice that their color wasn’t quite as bright anymore. Roman stayed silent even as she observed these changes. Virgo waited for the inevitable, waited for her to shriek in horror, run away from her, call her a monster. She wondered why she ever even thought this was a good idea. Why had she thought she could trust Ramona that much?

Still, that never happened. Ramona didn’t say anything for a very long time, and when she spoke, it was not what Virgo had been expecting. “So… your father…”

“It wasn’t him.” Virgo said, fresh tears forming at the memory. “The spellbook wasn’t his. It was mine. He was… he was accused of treason in the same week they discovered it, and he was guilty of that. He hated the royal family, hated everything you stood for. He knew he was doomed, so he took the other charge for me. Just so that I wouldn’t end up like him. He gave up his chance of mercy for me.” She smiled sadly, her vision so blurred by the tears she couldn’t make out anything, not even basic shapes.

Ramona thought this over for a long time. Finally, she spoke, clearly reeling from the new information. “I… I just… Yeesh, V, this came out of nowhere. I… I don’t know what to say to you. I don’t know… what to tell you. God, this is just- this is just a lot to take in.” She ran a hand through her hair, looking extremely distressed. Virgo stood up abruptly, and Ramona looked up at her in surprise.

“I get it.” Virgo said. “You don’t have to say it, I know it would make you feel guilty.” She looked over her shoulder back at the princess. “I think we both know when I’m not wanted.” She attempted to leave, but felt a hand encircle her wrist. Bad move, on Ramona’s part. She froze. Maybe if she hadn’t been so exhausted, she would have been okay with it, but as it was, she wasn’t. Suddenly, the garden disappeared, and all she could see was her mother’s chambers around her. All she could feel was her mother’s bruising grip as she screamed at her to be more grateful. Screamed at her that her father's death was her fault.

Her mother raised one of her hands, as if to slap her, and Virgo gasped. “ **_DON’T TOUCH ME!_ ** ” She screamed, wrenching her hand out of her mother’s grip. Her magic had leaked into her voice without her meaning to. Immediately, the scene dissolved around her, and she was back in the garden. She could still feel the sting on her cheek from where her mother had hit her. Ramona was on the ground, staring at her with wide eyes. They were shocked, but more than that… they were afraid. She was  _ afraid  _ of her. Rightfully so, it seemed.

Without another word, Virgo turned and fled through the gardens, not hearing as the princess called out from behind her.

~~~~~~

Pamela skipped happily down the hall, towards the library. It was the day after her engagement to Lola had been officially announced to the rest of the court, which had only happened a few days after they initially agreed on it. They had needed time to work out all the details of the arrangement, as well as set a time for the wedding. And Pamela was still absolutely elated. She had gone to Emily immediately after her father had told her she was no longer engaged to Libidine and told her all about what had just gone down. They had shrieked about it together and acted like the little fangirls they were until Emily’s mother came in and told them to turn down the noise. They had spent the rest of the night whispering excitedly to one another and Emily making jokes about planning the wedding.

Reaching the grand entrance to the library, wooden doors carved with images that held stories and famous quotes that made little sense to her, she pushed them open and stepped inside. The smell of paper and ink enveloped her, and she spun around once, taking it all in and letting out a sigh of contentment.

One of the librarian’s assistants glanced over to her and her lips quirked upwards in what looked like the beginnings of a fond smile. 

“Lady Payne is already in your usual spot, M’lady.” The assistant said, offering a short curtsy before going back to shelving. Pamela smiled and thanked her before walking briskly through the maze of shelves, not even caring that Lola had made it here before her.

Entering their small space, Lola looked up at her and smiled, though it didn’t seem as warm as it usually did. If anything it seemed a bit… nervous? Why would she be nervous?

“Ah, Pamela.” Lola said, coughing once and clearing her throat a bit. Pamela smiled brightly at her, choosing to ignore her new fiance’s weird behavior in favor of spending more time with her. “I wish to speak to you about something.” 

“What, not even a hello?” Pamela joked as she sat down, though her smile dropped when Lola still winced. “Hey, it was just a joke. I don’t care, I was just messing around with you.”

“Ah.” Lola said. “I see.” She looked around the small space awkwardly, as if she were trying to find a way to escape the situation. Truth be told, Pamela was starting to get a little uncomfortable as well. It wasn’t like Lola to act like this. “I must admit, I have had this conversation a few times before, but it never gets any easier.” Lola continued. What could she possibly have to say? 

Curiosity piqued, Pamela leaned forward slightly. “...Go on.” 

“I do not know how to say this, especially to you, considering that we are now engaged.” Pamela bit her lower lip. She nodded for Lola to continue, trying to smile encouragingly. She must have failed, because Lola winced once more and drummed her fingers on her leg. “Pamela, let me preface this by saying the reason I decided to engage myself to you was so that I could protect you. You are, objectively, a beautiful woman, and there are many people here who would not hesitate to take advantage of that. Libidine was simply one of many.”

“Wait, hold on, back up, what do you mean protect me? Yeah I know that there are some not so great people in this court, but I don’t understand how us getting engaged would stop them from touching me?”

Lola sighed and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Pamela, my father is very powerful. When faced with the possible wrath of my family, people will be more willing to back down and leave you alone. This way, there is no one in the entire court who would dare to make a move against you. They all know what us Paynes can do when we are angry.” 

Pamela nodded. “Okay, I see your point. So where exactly is this going?” Lola didn’t respond for a while. Pamela started to wonder if she would even have the courage to continue at all.

When she did, Pamela was not prepared for what she had to say. “Do you know what aromanticism is?” When Pamela shook her head, she sighed. “It is when a person does not feel romantic attraction towards others. Asexuality is when a person does not feel sexual attraction to a person. I am both, or, aroace. Meaning that I cannot feel attracted to a person in either of those senses. Therefore…” 

Pamela began to connect the dots. “You can’t feel attracted to me.” She whispered. “The only reason you got engaged to me was to protect me. You don’t… actually  _ like  _ me.” The realization hurt more than it probably should have. She knew that it was always a possibility, that Lola didn’t return her feelings, and to be honest, before she had started hanging out with Lola, it wasn’t just possible, it was probable. But then they had actually started interacting and… and she started hoping, thinking that maybe,  _ just maybe,  _ Lola liked her back. But now…

“I… I am not as emotionally inept as many believe.” Lola said, fidgeting with the fabric of her skirt. “I have seen the way you look at me. I know that you, as you put it…  _ like  _ me. I was hoping that if I ignored it and didn’t show any signs of returning the emotion, they would fade away. But then the whole thing with the engagement came up and I just couldn’t stand by and let it happen. I am sorry.”

Pamela did her best not to let the tears fall. She shouldn’t cry, she really should have expected it. Her hands curled, fisting her skirt as she resisted the urge to rip the fabric apart. Stupid, stupid,  _ stupid.  _ Lola was aroace, of course she was! She never showed any signs of liking anyone, and Pamela was truly stupid to expect that she would be any different.

“...Pamela?” Lola’s voice was gentle, way too gentle. Didn’t this girl know what she had just done? But it wasn’t her fault. It was Pamela’s, for believing that she ever had a chance with her.

“I-i’m fine.” She stuttered out. She took a deep breath.  _ You are fine. _ “I… I just need some time to think this over. It’s really sudden you know.” 

Lola nodded. “Of course. Take all the time you need.” Pamela stood up, struggling to keep the tears out of her eyes. Her vision was becoming blurry, she could hardly see straight.

“I’ll see you around.” She said, her voice thick. She hurried out of the shelves, past the library assistant, who sent her a concerned questioning look that she didn’t respond to, out the grand wooden doors that told stories of great triumphs and scholars whose ideas she didn’t understand. Out into the hallway, empty save for the occasional courtier or servant, and into her room. A bit later, she heard someone knock on the door, and heard Emily’s concerned voice, followed by her father’s. She ignored them both. She didn’t want to talk to either of them, didn’t want to see their pitying faces. She just needed to be alone right now.

The next day, Pamela didn’t show up for their meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!! Who here guessed the plot twist? I’m guessing no one, because I didn’t foreshadow it very well. Oops. 
> 
> But yeah, this chapter was one big old angst fest. I can’t promise the next chapter will be any better, but I honestly don’t know how long I want to stretch this out before I resolve these two conflicts.
> 
> In about a week, my life is going to get really busy, so I probably won’t be able to post as often as I am now, so sorry about that, I do not control the rate at which my life goes. Thank you all for reading this far, I really enjoy reading your comments, they’re all so sweet. <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some... interesting developments among the relationships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Cursing, execution mention, running away from home

Rema paced back and forth across the room while Janice watched her. She was mumbling something, which had started out as actual ranting and conversation, but had gotten quiet enough that Janice couldn’t hear it anymore. The two of them knew something was off with their sisters. For the past few days, every time Janice and Virgo walked into a room with Ramona, Virgo would shrink away, hide behind Janice, or flee the room. Everytime Ramona saw her, she would freeze, her eyes would get cloudy, and she would open her mouth, only for no words to come out. Janice had prodded Virgo as gently as she could until her sister had given in and told her what was going on. It had been shocking, that Virgo had worked up enough courage to tell the princess about her abilities, something that Virgo had admitted, she would not have told Janice about for much longer if Janice hadn’t found out about it first.

Janice hadn’t told Rema yet, and she didn’t think she would. It hurt her to see her love so desperate to help her sister yet not knowing what was wrong or how to fix it, but her loyalty to her sister always won out in the end. So far, it didn’t seem like the other princess had told Rema either. Rema was clearly frustrated. On top of the whole situation with their sisters, the king and queen had decided on a marriage prospect for her. They had agreed to engage her to one of the Sanders siblings, the one closest in age to her.

Ethan Sanders was fourth in line for the throne, obviously disposable. The poor man wouldn’t get a choice in the matter any more than Rema would. From what she had heard, Ethan was not very close to his father, nor was he close to his mother when she was still alive, and spent most of his time with his younger sister, Princess Thomasina. Thomasina was the youngest of the siblings, and the only girl in the entire family besides her eldest brother’s wife, the poor thing. Janice wondered what she was like.

Rema asked her a question she didn’t hear, bringing her out of her thoughts and back into the present.

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” 

Rema groaned and started waving her hands around frantically. “I asked you what you think we should do?”

“About which situation?”

“BOTH OF THEM!” Janice laughed as Rema fumed, trying to control her own anxiety. She knew that Ramona wouldn’t tell Rema, or anyone, for that matter, about Virgo’s magic, but she knew that Virgo wouldn’t see that. Virgo had a vivid imagination, in the time it would take for their relationship to be mended, her mind would have dreamt up all sorts of horrible worst case scenarios that were nowhere near realistic.

“Well…” She started, trying to think of what to say. “Ramona and Virgo obviously had a fight about… something. They both need time to cool off, and I don’t think the two of us getting involved is going to help the situation. The best we can do is give them time and be there when they want to talk. As for your marriage, I have to admit I’m blanking on ideas. This isn’t something your parents are willing to negotiate on, I’m betting?” 

Rema nodded her head. “They won’t budge. I… I don’t think I have the courage to talk to them about it either.” She sighed in defeat, and plopped herself down in the chair across from Janice. They were in the princess’s room, the only place that would give them absolute privacy. No one would dare to sneak into the princess’s room, much less _Rema_ the princess’s room. They sat in silence, neither of them saying a word, as they both tried to figure out a solution to their dilemma. Slowly, Rema’s face dawned a look that Janice recognized. It was the look of someone who was about to do something reckless.

“Remember when I told you I wanted to run away?”

Janice raised an eyebrow. “You mean that offhanded sarcastic comment you made one time?” Rema nodded her head, the look in her eyes telling Janice that an idea was most definitely forming in her mind. “That would be incredibly dangerous, reckless, and quite frankly stupid. We’d have to figure out where we wanted to go, what we’d do, and most importantly, what we would do about our family here.” 

Rema’s face fell. “So is that a no?”

Janice quirked her lips. “I didn’t say that.” The princess’s face slowly lit up as she processed what was being said. “I simply said that we’d have a lot to figure out before we do. For example, we have family here. My father most likely won’t care that I’m gone, he never pays attention to me. Virgo on the other hand… we’d have to find a support system for her. She wouldn’t take it well at all.” 

Rema nodded. “We could try to introduce her to Lola. She just got engaged, though I think I saw the person she got engaged to crying the other day, so maybe that wouldn’t work out.” Janice saw where the princess was coming from. But rumors were flying about Payne’s new fiance, how they hated one another, and Janice really didn’t want to add on to Lola’s stress more than she had to.

“We’d have to leave a note for our sisters, of course.” Janice said. “If you leave then Ramona will stay behind and become the new heir for the throne. If we manage to stay away for long enough, Ramona will be crowned queen.” Rema was bouncing on her toes by now.

“We could go through the Sanders’ Kingdom. Yeah, that’s like the first place that would be alerted, but on the other side of their kingdom is a valley that separates it from the next kingdom over. It’s neutral ground and no one lives there because the forests are way too thick.” Seeing the princess so excited made Janice excited as well. If they really pulled this off, they’d be away from the entire kingdom. They’d never have to worry about titles or marriages, they’d get to choose their own path.

“There’s just one thing.” Janice said, sobering at the thought of what she was about to say. “If we go through with this… I will never be able to come back. They’ll chase us down, and if we get caught, they’ll have me executed for treason, and messing with foreign affairs. It… it is a risk I’m willing to take, but it means that…”

“Your sister…” Rema caught on. Janice cringed and nodded. Virgo had been such an important part of her life, even for such a short time. She hated the thought of leaving her sister behind for good. Was she willing to give up Virgo for this?

Somehow, she didn’t think she could. She shook her head. “I don’t think I can do this. She… Virgo needs me. She’s in a very vulnerable position right now and leaving will only worsen that. I won’t do that to her. We’ll find another way. I’m sure there has to be one.” 

Rema nodded, understanding.“Well, I’d be leaving Ramona behind too, so I know what you mean. We’ll find a way around this. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll figure this out.” Janice nodded. 

She stood up, and looked at the door. “I should be going now. Virgo is probably looking for me.” She walked briskly to the door and opened it, entering the hall and starting back towards her sister’s room. Neither of them considered the possibility that there could be someone listening to their conversation. Someone who might have been suspicious of them for a long time, and who now had the proof they needed.

It was the middle of the night when it happened. Janice had been fast asleep, after spending the rest of the day comforting Virgo and trying to get her to listen to reason. She had not been successful.

Janice was tired, and her sleep had been fitful, worried for her sister, and for Rema. Possibly Ramona as well, though she did not know the other princess nearly as well. It was quiet, almost peaceful, as things were never truly peaceful in the castle. That is until her door slammed open with a loud bang. She shot up in her bed, looking around for who dared to enter her room without knocking first.

Standing in the doorway, was Rema, looking panicked and disheveled. Her hair was a mess, and she was fully clothed, wearing a black turtleneck sweater with silver embroidery and pants that looked like they were made for sparring.

“Rema! What on Earth are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night!”

“No time to explain, we have to get out of here.” Rema crossed the threshold and threw the bag she was holding onto the bed beside Janice. She flung open Janice’s closet and began rummaging through, every now and then throwing random outfits onto the bed next to the bag. 

Janice watched this all with a bewildered face. “Rema! Talk to me! What is going on?” 

Rema looked up at her with a desperate look on her face. “They know, Jan. They _know.”_ Janice’s stomach dropped to the floor. Her face paled. 

“Are you sure?” But of course she was sure. There was no faking that fear. And even if it were fake, Janice would know. “How?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rema shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know is that I overheard someone talking to my parents about it. They’re coming for you, Jan. First thing in the morning, they’re going to come in here and arrest you. We have to be far away from here before then.” Janice was just sitting there in shock. How? How had this happened? They had been so careful! The fact that they had even figured it out… 

“Jan, what are you waiting for! C’mon, get dressed, we don’t have much time!” Rema was holding out an outfit for her. Janice looked at it and took it, quickly changing while Rema finished packing her stuff. Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless halter top sweater, and high waisted black pants. Rema saw that she was done, and zipped up the bag, heading to the door. 

Janice, however, hesitated. “Shouldn’t we… I should… I should leave a note. For Virgo. And maybe one for your sister as well. She’ll be wondering where I am in the morning. We can drop it off in their rooms, it won’t take long.” Rema hesitated, but nodded. Janice walked over to her desk and ripped out two pieces of paper from her sketchbook. She quickly wrote down a note, and did a small doodle, a picture of two pinky fingers intertwined. Virgo would know what it meant. On the other one, she made a similar note addressed to Ramona.

“Okay, let’s go.” Janice picked up the papers, and the two of them ran through the door. After a brief stop at Virgo’s room, and at Ramona’s, they raced through the halls. Most everyone was asleep, save for a few servants. It was quiet, and they were trying to keep it that way. Janice tried to take in everything about these halls in the few moments she had left in them. She knew that she would remember every last detail of it, and she knew that the memories of it would forever haunt her. They reached the courtyard, and then the stables.

Janice hadn’t ridden since she was a little kid, but Rema seemed to know what she was doing. She went over to a horse and immediately began fitting it with a saddle. It took her a few moments to notice Janice’s hesitation, and when she did, she stopped for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

“I… I can’t ride.” Janice admitted. Rema’s lips twitched, as if she were holding back laughter, before she went back to adjusting the stirrups.

“It’s alright, you can ride with me.” She said, her voice tinged with amusement. Janice blushed at the thought of sitting right up against the princess, but she quickly brushed her embarrassment aside. Rema finished fitting the horse and deftly leaping up onto the horse, settling on the saddle. She reached out a hand and Janice took it, letting out a surprised yelp as Rema sharply tugged her up, giving her a grip and allowing her to swing onto the horse, right beside Rema.

“Alright, ready?” Janice nodded, though in truth she was not ready at all. “Alright, let’s go.” Rema kicked the horse, and it kicked into full action. Janice had to bite back a scream as it started galloping at full speed. The gate was closed, but the guards on the wall saw them coming and began opening them. Midnight rendezvous were not uncommon, they probably thought they were going out to do… something.

As they left the castle and sped through the streets, eventually leaving the capital city, some part of Janice ached to go back. The castle had not ever particularly felt like home, but it was where she had met Virgo. Where she had fallen in love. It was where she spent a good portion of her childhood, when she was not living in her family’s estate. She didn’t know much about the world outside of it. Some part of her felt like she was making a huge mistake. That she had never felt worse.

The other part, however, had never felt better.

~~~~~~

“Hey, have you noticed anything… off, with Lola lately?” Emily asked Renae. The two of them were hanging out in the courtyard, watching servants, stable hands, and all sorts of castle staff go back and forth, doing their daily jobs.

Renae sighed. “Yeah, obviously. Apparently she and that friend of yours had a bit of a disagreement. It’s been a rough couple of days. First, Ramona and that girl she’s been hanging out with have a huge argument, then Pamela and Lola start having engagement issues, and now there are whispers that Janice and Rema have run away together.” Emily’s head snapped up at that.

“Wait, what? I only knew the part about Lola and Pamela. What happened with the princesses?”

“Well, to my knowledge, no one else really knows much about either situation. The court was starting to whisper about Ramona and Virgo, no surprise there, but now all of a sudden they aren’t hanging out anymore. And they both act really, _really_ awkward around one another. Everyone pretty much assumes Ramona saw she was too good for V, and moved on, but I’m pretty sure that something else happened. Because it looks to me that Ramona is still completely head over heels for that girl.” She took a sip of her coffee. “As for Rema and Lady Liar, people are whispering that they had an affair together and ran off last night. Some random hussy looking for attention apparently heard them talking about it and ran off to tattle to the king and queen.”

Emily winced at her fiance’s choice of language. “Well. That’s a complete mess, isn’t it? I suppose now they’re going to go after her, they can’t have the crown princess running off on them, now can they? But if they can’t find her, they might just have to offer up Ramona for the marriage Rema was supposed to be up for, won’t they?”

Renae tossed her loose hair over her shoulder. “Nah, they won’t want to admit that their own crown princess ran off with a _girl_ of all people. What would that look like to other kingdoms looking for alliances with them? They’ll just postpone the engagement and make up some lame excuse until they can find the princess.”

Emily pursed her lips. “I suppose that’s true.” She twisted a lock of her brown hair around her finger. “I suppose I’m worried for them. But I’m also really concerned about Pamela. She’s hardly left her room, not even to eat. I’ve had to bring her all of her meals, and she just picks at it. I have to coax her into every bite.”

Renae made a clicking noise with her tongue. “She’s suffering from a broken heart, poor thing. My little sis was never good at emotions. Oh, she understands them just fine, sure. She just has no idea how to deal with them. She really needs to get better at it.” Emily laughed softly. A messenger approached the two of them, though they didn’t pay him much attention, seeing as he might not actually be there.

“Excuse me, Sir-” Renae’s head snapped around so quickly Emily was sure she had heard an audible crack. The messenger flinched back, his eyes widening. “My lady.” He corrected. “Apologies, my lady.” Renae sighed irritatedly, and shot him a brief smile, before motioning for him to go on. He took the opportunity gladly. “Your sister has requested your presence in the library. There is something she needs to speak to you about.” The two of them looked at one another, before Emily turned back and nodded to the messenger boy.

“Thank you for letting us know.” She flashed him a bright smile and he nodded, before turning and running in the opposite direction. Renae grasped Emily’s hand and they stood up from where they had been seated, before beginning to walk back towards the castle.

When they reached the library, Lola was waiting for them, looking quite distressed. Emily made a concerned noise in the back of her throat, and Lola looked up, relief flashing across her face when she saw them. She led them back to an area in the very back of the library, one that Emily had never seen before. There was a small coffee table, as well as a couch and a chair, which Lola took up. Renae and Emily sat down on the couch.

“So.” Lola began. “I’m sure you’ve both noticed by now mine and Pamela’s… odd behavior.” Renae coughed a bit, but it sounded more like she was just trying to disguise the fact that she was saying “understatement.” Lola glared at her for a moment before continuing. “I… I must admit this is rather hard for me. I am usually able to figure things out for myself, but I just… can’t this time.” She took a deep breath and looked at Emily. “I am not as good with emotions as most people. You two, on the other hand, seem incredibly aware of others’ emotions and know how to deal with them. And I really need your help right now.”

Emily grimaced. “This is about Pamela, isn’t it?” She asked.

Lola nodded. “I don’t understand what I did wrong! I did everything I could to make it clear that it was not her fault. I tried to make her understand that I still valued her and that I was still willing to make the marriage between the two of us work! But she has not taken it well at all, and I don’t know what I did, or how to fix it!” Lola looked truly pained. She was desperate, Emily realized. “I have tried talking to her, but she won’t see me. I don’t know what else to do.” She threw her hands in the air, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. Emily wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not, but she could have sworn that her eyes were glassy, as if on the verge of tears.

Emily took a deep breath, and smiled gently at Lola. “One thing you have to understand, Lola, is that Pamela is a very emotional person. It is both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand, she is incredibly emotionally present, and she always knows how to help others. But on the other hand, she takes things very personally. She doesn’t mean to do it, but you rejecting her makes her feel like it was her fault, by nature.”

“But I didn’t reject her! I simply told her I did not feel romantically attracted to her!”

“Sis, you totally friendzoned her. That’s like, the worst kind of rejection a person can face.” Renae cut in. Lola looked at her like she was crazy.

“Please try to understand here.” Emily said softly, elbowing Renae in the ribs. “Pamela has been crushing on you for a very, very long time. She always felt like you were out of reach. Unattainable. And then you two started hanging out, and she was so happy. Every day she’d come back to me after meeting with you and gush about it. It was nice to see her so excited. And then, the whole thing with the engagement. She was absolutely elated. She was now engaged to her crush, the person she had been dreaming about being with for years. Only for you to tell her that you did not experience any attraction to her at all. You can imagine that probably didn’t go over well for her.”

“I never said I didn’t experience any attraction to her at all! I just said I didn’t feel _romantically_ attracted to her!” Lola said. Her tone was dangerously close to whining. Emily had never heard her like that before.

“Unless explicitly stated, that difference and connection, is not one that most people would make.” Emily said gently. “You have to remember that not everyone is as well versed in the forms of attraction as you seem to be.”

Lola bit her lip. “But…”

“Lola, it is very clear that you care very deeply for Pamela. You tried to let her down slowly, and I’m not faulting you for that. But, with the way you phrased it, you probably didn’t do a very good job of clarifying what kind of attraction you did feel towards her.”

Lola sighed, burying her face in her hands. “I… I do love her. Not romantically, but… still. My connection to her feels different from any other friend I’ve ever had. It feels… deeper. I suppose… I may not have made that as clear as I could have.” Emily nodded, smiling at her encouragingly.

“Well.” Renae said, cutting into the silence. “That has been sorted out. But now we have to figure out a way to actually fix the relationship between the two of them. Pamela is still refusing to talk to anyone.”

“Not everyone.” Emily said. “She’ll still talk to me. I bet I could convince her to leave her room.” She looked at the two other women in the room with her. “It’s worth a shot, is it not?”

It took a lot of coaxing to convince Pamela to leave her room and go out for a walk in the gardens with Emily, but she did manage to pull it off. Lola was waiting there with Renae, and the plan was to get Pamela and Lola in the same area, and then leave so the two of them could talk alone.

Pamela looked awful. She had bags under her eyes, her hair was a mess, and her outfit looked like she had picked out the first thing she saw in her closet and then half-assed it while putting it on. Emily grabbed onto her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, and Pamela gave her a tired smile in return.

They made it to the gardens, and Emily tried to keep Pamela distracted for as long as possible. If she saw Lola too soon, she might bolt. Pamela seemed pretty apathetic, and seeing her normally very cheerful, if not a bit shy, friend act like this was scary to Emily. Where was the Pamela she knew?

Emily felt the second Pamela’s eyes reached Lola. Lola was sitting on a bench, underneath a tree, nervously drumming her fingers on the stone, while Renae leaned up against said tree. Emily saw Pamela stiffen up, and felt the grasp around her hand tighten a bit more. She looked like she was ready to run, but thankfully, Lola saw her coming.

Lola stood up quickly, and Pamela took a step back, looking at Emily with a questioning look on her face. Emily shrugged, before taking a step forward and attempting to tug Pamela forward. Pamela didn’t budge, and in fact pulled her hand out of Emily’s grasp, turning around as if to leave, and took a few steps in the opposite direction.

“Pamela wait.” Lola said. Pamela didn’t respond, but she stopped moving. “I… I understand that there have been a few miscommunications between us. I’d like to set things straight.” Pamela made a small noise that sounded like a scoff, and Emily was just genuinely impressed that Renae didn’t make a “nothing about us is straight” joke.

Slowly, Pamela turned back around, and Lola sucked in a breath at her disheveled state. Emily walked over to Renae’s side and pulled her away from the tree, looping her arm around Renae’s and guiding her away from the others. She shot Lola an encouraging look over her shoulder, before continuing down the path.

They didn’t hear or see anything that went on while the two of them were in the garden, but what they did see was the two of them leaving, smiling, and with Pamela’s hand tucked in Lola’s

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s this? A new perspective? Yay! Originally, this wasn’t how I planned to get the two of them back together, but I started writing it and couldn’t stop. I mean, it does make sense, seeing as Emile in canon is a couples therapist.
> 
> And okay, yes I did foreshadow Thomas coming into the story. You'll have to wait a bit longer for her though. "Thomasina" is obviously the female variant of "Thomas" and is often shortened as "Tamsin," so that's the name Thomas is going to go by here.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgo wakes up in her room like she always does, so why does it feel so different?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Cursing, Implied past abuse, copious amounts of angst, hurt comfort, and fluff, all in one chapter.
> 
> Hold onto your hats, kids. This one's going to be one hell of a ride :)

Virgo woke up, and immediately knew something was wrong. To be fair, everything has been wrong lately. Ramona had learned her darkest secret, but the guards had yet to come for her. She kept receiving sympathetic looks from the other princess and Janice was doing her best to comfort her, but she didn’t know what Virgo needed right now. Virgo didn’t know what she needed right now.

But it wasn’t just that. Something was different. Yes, all of these things were wrong, and different, and she wished she could go back to the time when she was just hiding in the shadows, trying to avoid everyone else, before Ramona had decided to approach her. It had been lonely, but it had been safe, and she had had Janice there the whole time. Her sister, who was always by her side. But now there was just… something off.

It was cold in her room, as it always was in the morning when she first woke up. She liked to pile blankets onto her bed so there was no reason to keep the fire going at night. She snapped her fingers, and the rune she had drawn in the back of the fireplace where no one else could see it glowed purple. Flames erupted and filled the fireplace, and her room, with a warm, gentle light. The rest of the lights in her room also lit up, and she reluctantly crawled out of bed to get ready for the day.

There was definitely something different here, something she couldn’t quite place just yet, but she could figure it out later. She crossed over to her closet and looked through the options, before pulling out a black dress with a corset over top and a loose midi skirt, as well as bell sleeves. The skirt was a dark purple satin, so dark there was hardly any contrast between the skirt and the bodice. She also pulled out the hat meant to be worn with it, a black sun hat with a purple ribbon tied around it and a long and floppy brim. She debated on the veil that could be attached to it, before setting it aside and deciding to focus on it later.

Walking over to her vanity, she picked up her eyeshadow palette and brushed on a bruise purple on the top of her eyelids, followed by a thick layer of black eyeshadow under her eyes. She glanced down and noticed a folded up piece of paper sitting on the flat surface next to her hairbrush. That hadn’t been there when she went to sleep. Notes on her vanity weren’t unusual. Usually it was a servant dropping off a note from her mother, and she usually ignored those. However, this time felt different. This paper was more yellow, and looked more coarse than the paper her mother used.

She picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it, sucking in a sharp breath as she immediately recognized the handwriting. It was unmistakably Janice’s, which scared Virgo more than anything. What could she have to tell her that she couldn’t just tell Virgo in person? She took a deep breath and read through the letter.

_Dear Virgo,_

_I am so sorry._

Virgo was getting increasingly nervous. What on Earth would Janice have to apologize for?

_Virgo, I know what you’re going through right now. I know that you are struggling. I know that I promised you that I’d be right here to talk, just like I always had been in the past. But I’m afraid that is no longer an option._

What? No, Virgo couldn’t have read that right. What happened? Did Janice abandon her?

_Please know that I love you, and if it were my choice, I would never abandon you. I love you more than anything else in the entire world. You are my sister, the light of my life, my only sanctuary in a violent storm, and you have been for years now. But you know that I have recently gone after the crown princess, infatuated with her personality and charm. I knew the risks when I took this on. I knew that I would risk being charged with treason if anyone ever found out._

Virgo could see where this was headed. She didn’t want to read the rest, but she had to know what happened. If Janice had been caught, she didn’t think she could handle watching another execution.

_It was so sudden. One moment I’m asleep, the next, Rema is crashing through my doors and telling me that they know. They found out. I’m not sure how, but they did. We have made the choice to run away, far from here, to escape consequences. Rema is with me and we are_ safe. _Do not panic, and do not try to find us. I know you want to, and with your abilities I’m sure you could if you wanted to. But knowing where we are will put you in danger, and I don’t think I can handle putting my little sister in harm’s way. Please, I love you, and I promise you, one day, we will see each other again._

_We_ will _see one another again, Stormy._

_Janice_

There was a small drawing next to the signature. It was of two pinky fingers intertwined, locked in a promise. To anyone else, it would look like Janice was simply making a promise to her. But Virgo sucked in a wet gasp as a memory forced its way to the forefront of her mind.

_“Are you nervous?” Janice asked Virgo._

_“Would you believe me if I said no?” Virgo asked. Janice shook her head and pointed to her golden eye. Virgo sighed. “Right. How do I always forget you can sense lies?”_

_“Honestly I have no idea. Especially because it’s your fault my eye is like this.” Virgo rolled her eyes and stood up, laughing a bit at her sister’s small dig. Janice sighed and smiled at her younger sister gently. “It’s okay to be nervous. Our parents are getting married. We’ll be on full display for everyone to see.”_

_“Not. Helping.” Virgo gritted out. Janice threw her head back and laughed, smiling apologetically. “Let’s just get this over with.” Janice nodded and moved closer to Virgo so they were basically side by side, without touching one another. They walked like that through the hall before they reached the doors to the hall where the wedding was taking place. Both of their parents were definitely party people, who loved big gatherings, lavish decorations, and generally just being over the top. This was going to be a nightmare. Virgo started chewing on her bottom lip and fidgeting with the fabric of her skirt, trying to get her anxiety under control before they entered and everyone started staring at them. Janice glanced over to her and pursed her lips, sensing her sister-to-be’s discomfort._

_Virgo was staring at the ground, trying hard to focus on anything other than the fact that they were about to head into a room full of people and have to sit through an entire wedding and reception afterwards. Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her finger, and looked down to see that Janice had subtly looped her pinky through Virgo’s. Virgo looked back up at her soon to be sister, and smiled softly. Janice returned the smile with an encouraging one, and they approached the doors, pushing them open and stepping inside._

Virgo wasn’t sure when the tears had started coming down her face, but they were, and they were coming down strong. Virgo crumpled to the ground, clutching the letter close to her chest. She was gone. Janice, her one source of comfort, was gone. Virgo still remembered the day Janice had found out about her magic. The day when her mother had gone too far. She still remembered Janice’s promise, saying that she wouldn’t let her father’s sacrifice be in vain. She had encouraged her to learn about it. To use it. To control it. And she had promised to be with her every step of the way.

What was she going to do, now that Janice was gone? Janice had been her anchor, her lighthouse. Her beacon of hope when things seemed hopeless. How could she possibly live without her? Her sister had become such an integral part of her life. She was there to support her when no one else was. If they had pulled this stunt a few days earlier, before Virgo had made the biggest mistake of her life, she may have still had Ramona by her side, but as it was, she was alone. Completely, utterly alone.

Virgo sucked in a ragged breath, and read through the note again. And then again, and again and again and again. She didn’t know what she was looking for, she didn’t know what she was doing, she didn’t know anything anymore. She couldn’t see anything but the words on the paper, which blurred more and more as tears fell onto it, smudging the graphite and staining the parchment. Had she been more present she would have realized she was subconsciously shielding the drawing, purposefully keeping it from getting wet like the rest of the letter.

She didn’t know how long she stayed there. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. She didn’t know. She didn’t care. Janice was gone, Janice left her, Janice left her to be with somebody else. She knew that it was either this, or watching Janice get publicly executed, especially if their relationship really had been outed as the letter had suggested. But it still hurt. 

Virgo wiped the tears from her eyes to the best of her ability, smudging her freshly applied makeup and ruining what little of it was still salvageable. She read through the letter again, though some of the words were completely unreadable at this point. By now she could recite the whole thing from memory, and the thought made her smile. Janice would have taken one look at the paper and thrown it into the fire, holding on to its memory but not its physical form. It would have been perfectly preserved in her mind, without her needing to cling on to the physical memory.

But Virgo had always been much more sentimental than Janice, and right now, this was all she had left of her sister. The last gift she had given her. And Virgo held onto it like a lifeline. Looking at the wording, Virgo realized that Janice used the word “ability” instead of “magic,” as if she were afraid someone would come along and try to read it. It wasn’t an irrational fear, after all, there were many courtiers who would break into someone’s room and rummage through their stuff if they thought it could win them favor with the king and queen.

Virgo took a long, shuddering breath, and stood up. She looked in the mirror to see herself looking absolutely awful. Her eyeshadow was ruined. Black tear tracks ran down her face, her eyes were red rimmed and her face was blotchy. She looked like a monster.

There was a knock on her door, and she whirled around, her heart racing. No one had ever come to her room willingly, with the exception of Janice, who was gone. The only other person would have been the princess, and she… oh. Oh no. What if she had come here to arrest Virgo? What if she had decided she was done stretching this out and had come to end it right here and now? The small reasonable part of her brain was telling her that if that were the case, she wouldn’t have bothered with knocking. But the majority of the brain wasn’t listening, and she looked around wildly for an escape option.

Her room didn’t have any windows, she had made sure it didn’t when choosing it, so no one would peek in at her, but now she was beginning to regret her decision. She took a deep breath, and decided that whatever was about to happen, she could face it head on. Janice was gone, after all. She had nothing left to lose.

She picked up her hat from her bed, and fastened the black translucent veil onto it before placing it on her head, and turning back to face the door. She started tapping out a breathing pattern on her thigh, and followed it, going through the cycle twice as she prepared herself. The person at the door knocked again, and she swallowed.

“Come in.” The door opened slowly, and standing in the doorway was Ramona. She had this defeated look on her face, her hair was everywhere, and she was wearing a dress made of black and red fabric instead of her usual lighter color palette. In her hand, she clutched a note, and she looked about two seconds away from collapsing. Virgo’s eyes widened. She was alone, there was no one else in the hallway, and Virgo took a step back instinctually. What was this?

Ramona swallowed, and met Virgo’s eyes. “V? Can we… talk?”

~~~~~~

Ramona watched Virgo stiffen at her request, and mentally kicked herself. She had to be more delicate than that! She took in Virgo’s appearance, looking for any changes to it. The only difference she could see was that she was wearing a veil. Virgo had never worn a veil before, and they were usually reserved for mourning. But perhaps she was mourning, if not in the traditional sense. It certainly made sense to Ramona.

Ramona knew why Virgo was so tense around her. She really hadn’t reacted well to learning about Virgo’s magic at all. She had tried to talk to her about it sooner, but… she just couldn’t. She didn’t know why, but everytime she tried to talk to her, she felt like she was only going to make the situation worse. Now though, things were kind of serious. Rema was missing. So was Janice. Ramona knew Virgo wouldn’t have taken the news well. So she had come here, to make sure Virgo was okay. Only now she had to face the consequences of her fuck up.

“...I didn’t tell anyone.” She said. She could picture the surprise on Virgo’s face, and even through the veil, Ramona could feel Virgo’s eyes roving up and down, looking for some sign of trickery.

“...Why not?” Virgo asked. Ramona could just feel the fear and suspicion rolling off of her in waves. How was she going to explain this?

“Because… I like you?” Okay, that was not the greatest start. Virgo snorted, and Ramona cringed, knowing that it probably didn’t sound very convincing. “I’m serious! Virgo, I’ve been in love with you for such a long time. I wouldn’t report you for magic. Did you really think I would?”

Virgo’s head turned away from her. “Uh… yeah? I have black magic, Ramona. Having black magic is illegal. Having magic in _general_ is illegal, Nevermind the fact that it isn't something that you can control. I wouldn’t blame you for it, you know. You’re betraying your own parents by withholding this information from them.” 

The princess shrugged. “I really don’t care about that. You are much more important to me than my parents are.” Ramona crossed the threshold of the room and stood right in front of Virgo. “V, I mean it. I care so much about you, I don’t care that you have black magic. Honestly, I think it’s kind of cool. I think it’s rather stupid that it should be illega l to have something you have no control over.I know I didn’t react well originally, and I’m sorry. You were being very vulnerable and I didn’t do or say anything to help that. I was just so surprised, because I felt like it had come out of nowhere, but in truth… you must have been working up the courage to tell me for a long time.”

Virgo didn’t say anything, but Ramona kept going. She was determined to plead her case, even if Virgo didn’t accept her apology. Even if Virgo never wanted to see her again, she had to know how Ramona felt. “I’m so sorry, Stormcloud. I don’t have an excuse for my behavior, and I won’t try to find one, but I promise you, that I will never, _ever_ make you feel like that again. I love you, Virgo. I always have.” There was a long stretch of silence, while Ramona waited with baited breath. If Virgo rejected her, which she wouldn’t blame her for, Ramona would be crushed.

Finally, Virgo let out a long breath. “I… I forgive you. And… I love you too.” The admission took Ramona by surprise, because in truth, she had started wondering if Virgo had liked her back, or if she just saw them as friends. Ramona wanted to stay here, to stay in this moment forever. But it seems that the universe had other plans, because Virgo continued talking. “Why… are you here? I get the feeling you didn’t just come to apologize.”

Ramona shrugged. “I wanted to see if you were alright.” She held up the note, and Virgo’s eyes quickly scanned it. “I knew this would hit you hard.”

Virgo didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. “It… I… yeah, it did.” She sounded so defeated. Ramona reached up towards her veil, giving her plenty of time to tell her to back off, but she didn’t. Gently, Ramona lifted it up, and set it on the brim of her hat. She tried not to gasp at the sight of her beloved Stormcloud’s face.

Virgo looked horrible. She had been crying, which was made clear by the black lines running down her face and the smudged makeup. She looked up at Ramona with a look of pure hopelessness, the look of someone who was done with the world. It broke Ramona’s heart.

“Oh Stormcloud.” She said, reaching up. She was slow, and Virgo eyed it, but didn’t lean away in any way. Ramona placed her hand on Virgo’s cheek, and Virgo leaned into the touch, fresh tears coming down her face. “Hey, hey, hey, none of that.” Ramona said, using her thumb to wipe away some of the ruined makeup. Ramona used her free hand to take one of Virgo’s hands, and when Virgo didn’t pull away, she gently guided Virgo over to the bed. 

Virgo leaned up against Ramona’s chest, and Ramona wrapped her arms around her, gently rubbing circles on her back with her thumbs. Ramona smiled to herself, realizing that this was the first time Virgo had let her touch her. Losing their sisters seemed to be the push that they both needed.

Ramona brought one hand up and began stroking her hair, began whispering her reassurances, and singing softly in her ear. They sat like that for a long time. No one came in, no one disturbed them. There was nothing to ruin the moment that they were sharing together. Just two girls in love and mourning their sisters.

Eventually, Virgo leaned back, and sniffed once. She met Ramona’s eyes, and Ramona took out a handkerchief out of her pocket, holding it out to Virgo. She gladly took it and wiped the rest of her ruined makeup off of her face. She pulled away from Ramona’s embrace fully, and Ramona let her, even though part of her wanted to keep going.

“Thank you.” Virgo said. “I needed that.”

Ramona nodded. “Of course.” Virgo stood up and walked over to an empty spot in the room that was devoid of any furniture. There were no carpets, no shelves, no chairs, nothing. Ramona thought it odd, until Virgo reached up with one hand and _drew_ a symbol in the air. A rune, Ramona realized, she was doing magic. The rune glowed for a moment before disappearing, and furniture began to fade into view. A table, covered in supplies for what looked like potions, a bookshelf full of spellbooks, amulets, and jars full of ingredients, and a mat on the floor to catch any spills.

“Woah.” Ramona breathed, her voice full of wonder. She had never seen magic in action before, save for Virgo’s magical outburst in the garden a few days ago, which had been nothing like this. This wasn’t raw emotion, this was controlled, precise, and beautiful. Virgo turned around, a blush on her face, and god, Virgo looked gorgeous when she blushed.

“What do you think? This is my potions workshop, I like to experiment around with different recipes to try and get more potent or less potent versions of already existing spells. I’ve been working on one for a while now, and I just perfected it last night after Janice left my room.” She explained, the blush spreading as she got increasingly nervous.

Never say Ramona didn’t learn from her mistakes. She stood up and crossed over to the table in three short strides, running her hand along the wood. “It’s amazing, V. You seem really good with your magic.”

Virgo was getting more and more flustered with each passing second. “W-well, I’m not that good. You see, I’m still an amature compared to a lot of people in stories and stuff like that, and it’s not like I’ve had any formal training, but-”

“Stop. Just stop. This is incredible. You are incredible. That is not an opinion, that is not a negotiable point, that is a fact. This… everything about this… is just so… wow, I don’t even know how to describe it.” Virgo was just staring at the ground blushing at this point and trying not to pass out, and Ramona giggled. “You wanted to show me your potion?”

That seemed to snap Virgo out of it, and she snapped her fingers. “Right.” She walked over to the shelf and grabbed an empty bottle, as well as a few jars off of it. Ramona watched her tie up her hair before pouring some sort of base into it that smelled suspiciously like sulfur into a bowl, and then adding in other ingredients and mixing them all together. Some looked like pine needles, others looked like flower petals or leaves, and some even looked like powders. One of them was just straight up powdered sugar, which Ramona learned when Virgo stuck her finger into it and ate some of it, before offering Ramona some. Ramona decided to decline. She was having too much fun watching Virgo work.

Finally, Virgo poured the concoction into the bottle. “See the thing about potion making,” She explained. “is that it’s a lot like cooking. Some potions are like steak, they have to be prepared in a really specific way, or else you might end up with something you don’t want, while others are like salads, where you can just throw a bunch of ingredients together with no regard for proportions and it’ll still work out.” She looked up at Ramona and smiled.

“The thing about this potion is that it’s kind of like a salad, in that it doesn’t require any heating or steps other than throw the ingredients together and mix it around, but for this one you actually do have to be really specific about the proportions, or the whole thing is going to wind up wonky. Last night I finally figured out what I had been doing wrong while trying to make this one, which had been that I had added too many chrysanthemum petals. But I finally managed to work it out.”

She walked over to Ramona and reached up, plucking a single strand of hair out of her head.

“Ow!” Ramona reflexively brought her hand up to rub the spot, even though it really didn’t hurt that much, and Virgo sent her an apologetic smile. Virgo lowered the hair into the potion before capping off the bottle and swirling it around. Ramona watched in amazement as the liquid slowly began to turn into a purplish-gray smoke. It swirled around and inside there were flashes of color, almost like lightning in a stormcloud. 

She looked back up at Virgo to see her smiling at Ramona. Then, while maintaining eye contact, she ripped the cork off of the bottle and the smoke exploded into the air, funneling through the neck until it was hovering above them like clouds before a thunderstorm.

When Ramona was done staring at it, she looked back down to see that Virgo’s eyes were glowing _bright purple._ Ramona was mesmerized.

Virgo reached up with one hand, and Ramona could see a faint purple aura surrounding it as she flicked her wrist, and the smoke started to move again. It swirled around, condensing and lowering, until it was one solid mass in front of them, and then it further condensed into two figures. One was red, the other was purple. Both were wearing ball gowns. The purple one seemed to hang back, standing by Virgo, and looking uncomfortable, judging by her body language, and Ramona watched as the red one approached them. There were distant sounds of a party filling the room, loud and quiet at the same time, and Ramona figured they must be at a formal event of some kind.

The red figure held out a hand, offering a dance, and the purple figure seemed to accept, placing her hand in the other’s. Red pulled purple in and started whirling around the room, dancing in midair. They went all around Virgo’s bedroom, and as they passed behind Ramona, she could hear the echoes of laughter coming from them. At one point, Red lifted the purple figure up by her waist, and spun her around before setting her down. A distant shriek sounded, followed by more laughter, and finally, the two figures slowed to a stop right in front of Ramona.

The two of them stood there for a moment, before they leaned in, and kissed. Ramona’s eyes were wide, and they flicked up to see that Virgo was bright red. She reached out to touch one of the figures, but when she tapped the red one, it exploded back into smoke, funneling back into the bottle and returning to its original stormy state.

Virgo quickly capped off the bottle, and set it on the shelf, before starting to clean up her work station.

“That was amazing V!” Ramona exclaimed. “What was that? What kind of potion was that?” Virgo froze and nearly choked on her own tongue at the question. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, it’s just um. It’s- uh...” Virgo coughed, her porcelain face the color of a tomato. “It was a seeing potion. It’s used to see a person’s near future.” Ramona connected the dots. Red was her signature color, everyone in the court knew that. There weren’t many people who chose purple as theirs, purple was seen as dark, and most courtiers prefer brighter colors. The only person she even personally knew with the color scheme of purple was… oh. Oh dear god.

“D-does that mean that we…” Ramona trailed off. Virgo coughed loudly, and looked about two seconds away from passing out. 

“I mean, we don’t know for sure. The near future could be anywhere from one week to two years, so we don’t really know what’s going to happen for certain, but… as of now, it looks like that we’re…” She didn’t finish the sentence. They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them sure of what to say.

Finally, Ramona cleared her throat. “We’ll have to be careful. More careful than our sisters. If people find out about this…” Virgo nodded. Both of them knew that Ramona’s parents would never let them be together. Virgo was the daughter of a disgraced lord, for crying out loud! The only reason they were allowed to stay in court was because Virgo’s mother had remarried.

“We can visit one another at night.” Virgo suggested. “I’ve perfected the art of sneaking around unnoticed, and besides, I have magic to assist me.” 

Ramona smiled softly. “So, we’re really doing this?”

Virgo nodded. “We really are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, sorry folks. If you were looking for these two to kiss I regret to inform you that you’ll have to wait a while longer.
> 
> That small glimpse of the future for the two girls is also a bit of foreshadowing for a scene that is coming in later chapters that is quite literally, the only reason I created this entire storyline.
> 
> Chrysanthemums are used to represent hope for the future, which is why Virgo used them in her potion.
> 
> I find comments incredibly motivating, and they're always so much fun to read. Thank you guys for your support on this story <3, this is the longest chaptered fic I've ever written, as well as the first one I've actually published. Thank you guys so so so much!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily and Renae go for a ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just needed to write some fluff. We'll get back to the plot in a bit.
> 
> Chapter warnings: Mentions of homophobia

Renae leaned up against the doorframe and knocked on it twice, smiling softly.“Hey Em.” Emily looked from her work and smiled. Renae’s heart did a somersault in her chest, and goddamnit, she should be over it, but nothing would ever top seeing her fiance like this. Her hair tied back in a messy ponytail, her fluffy side swept bangs so obviously tangled, it was truly ridiculous. Why did she find it so attractive?

“Hey Renae.” Emily stood up and waltzed over to the door, standing up on her toes to give Renae a kiss on the cheek. Renae blushed, her whole face heating up at the contact. Every day she managed to fall in love with Emily all over again. “What’s up?”

“Were you busy?” Renae asked, looking at the big pile of papers on her desk. It was kind of a stupid question, but Renae knew that if she had waited for Emily to be done she would have talked herself out of approaching her fiance at all. Renae had been told by Emily that she was so confident, that it was impressive, but the truth was that if she got an idea for a romantic outing or gesture of some sort, she had to do it quickly before her doubt crept in and she talked herself out of it. “I can come back later if you want.”

Emily shook her head. “It’s fine, Sweetheart. What did you need?” Renae blushed and bit her lip, rubbing the back of her head. To have to ask felt a little embarrassing, but really she just had to get it over with.

“Well… I just wanted to ask… oh god, this is so stupid.” She sighed. She really didn’t know what she was doing. “I was wondering if you wanted to go on a ride with me? Later?”

Emily’s peachy skin flushed pink, and she giggled. “I would love that, actually. I was just helping my mother with her work. She’s been so busy lately. So we can go… this afternoon?” 

Renae breathed a sigh of relief and nodded eagerly. “That sounds great. I’ll see you then babe.” She kissed Emily on the top of her head and stared lovingly at the woman she was engaged to. It was ridiculous how fast she had fallen for her. All it had taken was one meeting, and she had been hopelessly gone. But who could blame her? Emily was the sweetest person on the planet. The only person who could rival her was her best friend, and her smile shone brighter than the sun. Her light brown hair glittered in the sun, her brown eyes like dark pools of chocolate. 

Emily was beautiful, there was no denying it. She was so unfairly gorgeous and Renae didn’t know what she did to deserve an angel like her. Truly, she still had no idea why Emily had chosen her, when she could no doubt have had anyone in the court she liked. The first answer was the power that came with marrying a Payne, but Emily had never made it about the power. It was like she didn’t even remember that part half the time.

Emmy’s friend, Pamela, had talked to Renae afterwards about just how  _ long  _ Emily had crushed on her, and it had made Renae feel like obliviousness must be a family gene, because  _ wow  _ that had gone on a long time.

“Uh… Renae, honey, I promised I’d go, but I still have work right now, remember?” Renae reluctantly let go of Emily, blushing both at the nickname and the embarrassment of getting so lost in her thoughts. 

She offered one last smile and wave, before heading out the door.

~~~~~~

Emily stepped out to the stables, sure that Renae was already there. Sure enough, her fiance was waiting there with two horse’s reins in her hand. Emily smiled and waved. Renae had tight but comfortable pants and a white crop top with a black leather jacket over it. She had definitely changed into something more practical, as had Emily. She was wearing a pink and white sleeveless crop top and white pants, as well as knee length riding boots that were a light tan.

Renae waved with her free hand and Emily smiled at her. She came to a stop in front of her partner and took the reins for one of the horses, a white friesian, from Renae’s hand before expertly mounting it. Renae followed suit.

Her fiance grinned, clearly giddy, and Emily felt the same. “Ready babe?” Emily nodded, heat flaring to her face. Renae dug her heels into the stirrups and flicked her reins. Immediately the horse started galloping off.

“Hey, wait that’s not fair! You got a head start!” Emily called as she urged her own horse forward. Renae’s laughter echoed behind her as they raced down the path. They ran through the gates and onto the path that headed down to the town next to the castle, before Renae veered suddenly onto a smaller path branching off the main road into the forest. Emily yelped in surprise as she struggled to make her own horse follow the turn.

They rode deep into the forest, the foliage getting thicker around them as they continued. At one point they cleared a fallen tree that had blocked the path, nearly making Renae fall off from the jump, much to Emily’s delight. She knew her fiance could stay upright, and if there were any actual danger she might have been worried, but it was fun watching her struggle after she had made Emily go through that ridiculous turn.

Eventually, the trees thinned once more, and then the path ended, right in front of a lake. Emily gracefully dismounted the horse and tied her horse’s reins to a tree. Renae came up beside her and Emily slipped her arm through hers. She leaned against Renae’s side and wondered how on Earth she had managed to get this lucky. She had had eyes for Renae since they were kids. At first she hadn’t known what the feeling was, but as she got older it started to develop until it was a full on crush. Then it had turned into more than just a crush when they had actually met, Renae overhearing her singing and getting curious.

There were a few stone benches overlooking the lake, which was a truly gorgeous view. A mountain range rose in the background, and the sun was sure to set behind it, the clouds hanging around the tips of the mountains. They approached the cluster of benches, and Emily saw that there was another couple sitting on one of the benches.

Well, maybe couple wasn’t the right word, seeing as it didn’t quite capture their relationship. Pamela was braiding flowers into Lola’s hair, humming softly. She looked up and immediately brightened at the sight of her best friend. Emily’s face split into a grin and she left Renae’s side to run up and embrace her friend.

When she pulled back, she giggled. “It seems that you two have worked things out.” Lola smiled, and oh wow, that was the softest expression Emily had ever seen on her face. Normally her emotions were far subtler, usually vague and not easy to read. But the adoration on her face was so open, so present, it was honestly kind of jarring.

“Pamela and I have come to… something of an agreement.” Lola reached over and took Pamela’s hand. “One that we can both be happy with.” 

“Oh do tell, babes.” Renae said, sitting down on one of the benches. Her tinted glasses slid down her face ever so slightly, allowing Emily to get a small glimpse of her dark brown eyes.

Pamela giggled softly. “Well it’s rather complicated.” But she told them anyway. She explained what happened in the garden, how Lola had talked to her about not being able to properly communicate emotions very well, her feelings about their relationship, and how they had come to agree on a relationship that was more than just a friendship or mutual partnership. “...and Lola thinks I might be asexual.” Pamela said, looking a little nervous. “I’ve never really wanted anything to do with reproduction. For fun or for any other purpose, I’ve never really had any desire to participate in it. And… and I was thinking about it… and I think that it makes sense. I’ve always kind of found the methods really unsettling. I think, what we’ve agreed on… this is really what I wanted all along.”

Emily smiled softly at her friend. “Well I’m glad. And honestly, thank god you two ended up together. I don’t know how much more of Pamela’s pining I could have taken. Seriously, it was unbearable.”

Pamela squeaked and slapped Emily on the arm. “You- what the hell Emily! It’s not like you were any better!” Emily burst out laughing, and Pamela folded her arms over her chest and pouted. Lola laughed quietly, shaking her head fondly.

“So…” Renae said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Y’all hear what went down with the princess and Stormy?”

Pamela’s gaze saddened and she nodded. “Do you guys think that they’ll ever make up?” In the recent days, they had moved on from being uncomfortable with one another to just avoiding being in the same room together. 

Lola rolled her eyes. “I imagine that they will, if they haven’t already. Ramona still seems very much in love with her.”

Pamela chewed her lower lip. “Well I hope so. I can’t imagine what they’re both going through. Both of their sisters disappeared out of nowhere, and Janice was really the only one who ever talked to Virgo. I can only imagine how she’s taking it.” Everyone nodded in agreement. In truth, Emily had been keeping an eye on Virgo, and yeah, she had seemed pretty destroyed by her sister’s disappearance. She wondered if Virgo knew beforehand. It didn’t seem very likely, and Virgo hadn’t acted like she knew anything about it.

Emily was honestly quite surprised she hadn’t been interrogated about it yet. Her step father had been thoroughly questioned, but she had been left alone. Perhaps it was Ramona pulling some strings to keep her safe. Emily wouldn’t be surprised if the princess was still looking out for her from a distance. She smiled softly at the thought. They were most definitely made for one another.

~~~~~~

Lola wouldn’t say that she didn’t feel bad for Virgo. The girl’s sister had disappeared suddenly without a trace and now she was alone against the entire court that was awaiting her downfall. So yes, Lola did sympathize with the girl. She could only imagine how she would react if Renae were to disappear. Except that Virgo wasn’t really alone like everyone else believed. The others were rather dense for not seeing it. They were avoiding one another on purpose, trying to stay apart, but not because they were still fighting one another. They were staying apart to keep people from getting suspicious about something else that may be going on between the two of them.

Lola had seen the looks they were quickly throwing one another whenever they passed each other in the hallways. She had seen how they would brush up against one another even though there was plenty of room in the hall to avoid that happening. 

It made total sense. Virgo was the daughter of a dead and disgraced lord. The only reason their family had been permitted to stay in the court was because Lady Storm had remarried so quickly, which was a whole other story. There was no way the ruling couple would allow their daughter to be with the likes of her. There was no advantage to it, no strategic value in it, not to mention the whole disgraced thing would make the royal family look like fools.

It was a clever ploy, she had to admit. Avoiding one another during the day, to avoid suspicion. But they were definitely meeting at night, when everyone else was asleep, made obvious by the bags that were starting to grow under the princess’s eyes. 

It was obvious to her, though she supposed someone who didn’t know how to read Ramona’s cues as well as she did wouldn’t see it. If Janice were here she would have seen it immediately too. Lola missed her rival, missed the challenge she presented her, missed the companionship their rivalry had brought. She could only imagine how her younger sister must have felt about it. From what she had observed, the two were practically inseparable. Losing her must have been hard.

It made sense, then, that Virgo had gone back to wearing mourning colors. Not that she had ever fully moved out of them after her father’s death. The story that was popular among the court was that her father’s death changed her, twisted her and made her evil, and with it her sense of clothing changed as well. But that was obviously just rumors. The more obvious, and more likely explanation was that she simply had never gotten over her father’s death. Now with this added on loss, Lola didn’t think she would ever recover fully. Her sister was never coming back, that was a hard truth that Lola didn’t know if she would be able to accept.

And then there was Ramona and Rema. Of course, Lola missed the other princess, she missed her so much it hurt. She was worried for her safety, though she knew that the feral princess was more equipped to survive in the wild than most of her upbringing. She had always been so interested in how soldiers lived on the front lines, away from the finery of court. Janice would definitely be less excited. Lola almost giggled at the thought of the normally very clean and put together girl trekking her way through the mud and complaining the whole time.

Lola was honestly surprised at how well Ramona seemed to be handling the grief. It probably helped that she had someone to grieve with, and someone else to talk to, but still. The twins had always been arguably the closest pair of siblings in the entire court, though once Janice and Virgo had come along that title was challenged.

Of course, the king and queen put on a front about being distraught about their daughter, but really, they weren’t upset. They were just angry. Ramona ranted to her several times about how they didn’t even care that their daughter could be in danger. They just cared about the marriage prospects she brought them, and how many of them they would lose should the other kingdoms find out that their own heir had run away from home.

Lola found herself agreeing with her friend. The king and queen were disgusting beings, she couldn’t wait for the day when Rema took their place. Though now, it was quite possible that Rema wouldn’t be crowned queen. Should she and Janice pull off this stunt, which Lola found to be realistically unlikely, though hopefully Janice would manage to slip away if the guards ever caught up with them, the king and queen would be forced to name Ramona heir. That was fine by her, she knew that Ramona would make a good queen. Still, the idea of replacing Rema didn’t sit right with her, and she doubted it sat right with Ramona either.

The others sitting at the lake were chatting away, Renae spilling the latest court gossip, which Lola only half listened to. Pamela had finished braiding her hair, and though Lola had originally protested putting the flowers in, Pamela had insisted. She had to admit, they were… aesthetically pleasing, not that she’d ever admit it out loud.

“Ooh, and the king and queen accidentally made a slip up and made a homophobic comment in public. They’re scrambling to cover their tracks of course, but now people are starting to whisper.” Renae was saying.

Lola leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. “The king and queen’s homophobia is nothing new, Renae. You and I both know they have never been fond of people like us.” 

Renae rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but I mean they’ve never said anything about it in public before. Maybe people will finally start to see how truly awful they are.”

“Some might say that talking like that is treason.” Lola responded, a smirk playing on her lips. She could see the truth in her sister’s words, and no one out here was going to report her for saying that, but still.

“Ha, like you’d ever had the guts to tell the king and queen about me. Listen, I’ve got enough dirt on both of them that even if they did come after me, I could ruin their reputations as rulers, and as people. We all know that if I wanted to, I could tear this place to the ground.”

Emily giggled, and Lola smiled at her. She was a lot like Pamela, albeit more outgoing than her fiance. Well loved among the court, she had had more than a few suitors as well. Her family wasn’t particularly powerful, but there was no denying that she was a beauty. There had been many broken hearts the day her engagement to Renae had been announced. 

Seeing her fiance next to her best friend, Lola saw how truly similar they were. Guess she and her sister had a type. Well, as much of a type as you could have when you were incapable of feeling any romantic attraction towards anyone.

The four of them continued chatting, going on for hours, Renae with her conspiratorial whispers, Emily and Pamela hanging on to every word. Lola was half listening as well, knowing full well that if she ever needed anything repeated all she had to do was ask. Perks of being related to the court gossip, she supposed. Distantly, Lola wondered if they should be out here this long. The sun was beginning to set, but no one would miss them, except maybe their parents, or maybe Ramona, though she must be distracted by thoughts of hanging out with Virgo by now. And it’s not like they had anything to hide. Lola contemplated telling them about Ramona and Virgo’s not-so-secret relationship, but figured it wasn’t her story to tell. Ramona and Virgo would tell them when they were ready.

“Oh, we should probably head back now.” Pamela spoke up, looking at the sky that was absolutely alight with shades of blue, purple, orange, and red, with the sun slowly disappearing behind the mountains. The others looked up and it was only then that everyone seemed to realize how late it truly was.

“Oh, yeah.” Emily said. She turned to Renae, who was staring at her with an adoring look on her face. Oh yeah, they were meant for one another. Lola didn’t believe in concepts like love at first sight or soulmates, but these two were enough to make her question that disbelief. The two of them got up and walked over to their horses, and Lola watched the two of them mount them and take off riding back down the trail.

She looked back at Pamela and saw her smiling softly at her.

“Is there something wrong?” Lola asked, her voice tinged with fondness.

Pamela shook her head. “How could anything be wrong when you’re right here?” She asked. Pamela took her hand. “I’m glad that out of all the possible outcomes our marriage situations could have had, this was the one we ended up with.” Lola just  _ melted.  _

She brought Pamela’s hand up to her face and kissed her knuckles softly. “I’m glad too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing about Lola is that no, she is not incompetant when it comes to emotions. She can read emotions perfectly well, better than most people can, even. But she cannot for the life of her figure out how she is supposed to respond to them.
> 
> Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter than the others, I didn't want to drag it out for too long and if I tacked on another scene after it it would have been too long.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rema and Janice's plans to run away and start a life for themselves seemed like it was coming true.
> 
> And then things took a turn for the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I really wanted to stretch this whole running away thing out, but I didn’t know what kinds of filler I would put and the rest of the plot can’t commence until the runaway story arc comes to a close.
> 
> Also, was the previous chapter an apology in advance for this one? Maybe. Will I ever give you a straight answer? Maybe.
> 
> Chapter Warnings: Cursing, brief mentions of execution

Janice was beginning to regret running away. She was glad to be alive obviously, and she was glad to have spared her sister the torture of having to watch another member of her family get executed. But… she was not built for roughing it in nature. Rema seemed to know exactly what she was doing, and knew just about everything there was to know about living in the wild, but Janice felt useless. Like she was dead weight. It bothered her.

It had been a few weeks since they had run away together. Almost a month, in fact. She was dirty, hungry, and exhausted. She was lucky Rema was here, if she wasn’t, Janice really didn’t want to think about how poorly she would have fared out here.

She was built for maneuvering the inner workings of a court. She was used to sweet-talking her way out of tense situations and slipping around quietly so as not to upset the nest of vipers that the whole castle could turn into. She was  _ not  _ ready to be in a completely new environment. Here, there were no rules, and everything was unfamiliar. Back home, if she ended up dead, she would have a good idea of who did it, and why. Here, not so much. Anything was fair game. She didn’t like it, it was far too unpredictable. Of course, the court had been unpredictable as well, but it was a kind of unpredictable she was familiar with. Rema was really her only constant.

So yeah, she wasn’t exactly a big fan. She wished she could go back. Go back to Lola so she could banter with her about trivial facts without any real heat, back to Renae so they could exchange secrets with one another, back to Virgo to tease her about her crush on the younger princess and offer comfort when she needed it. But there was no way she could go back. Short of the king and queen straight up  _ dying,  _ there wasn’t much that would change the minds of the court. To them, she was a traitor, a temptress, a  _ villain. _

Oh how she hated that word. Villain. It implied that morality was black and white, despite it being anything but. The king and queen were good rulers overall, as they weren’t doing anything wrong, though they certainly hadn’t made any big accomplishments, but they were horrible people. They treated their daughters like they were objects instead of complex human beings. They would accuse people of treason for something as simple for falling in love with the wrong person. They made homophobic comments in private and didn’t accept their daughters for who they were.

And of course there was the whole situation with Virgo and her father. They were good people. Good people who got a bad reputation for only mostly deserved reasons. Lord Storm had committed treason, that much was true, but he loved his daughter. When the spell book was discovered, he took the blame for her. He sacrificed what little mercy he would have been granted to save her. And Virgo herself had “dark” magic. But she was the best sister Janice could have ever asked for, and underneath the dark exterior, she really was just grappling with her own struggles, just like everyone else.

So yeah, having a black and white view of morality was childish at best, discriminatory at worst. It was disgusting. Not that any of the courtiers cared about that.

At present, Janice was laying on the ground, staring up at the sky above them while Rema worked on a smokeless fire. Where she had learned such a thing was beyond Janice, she was sure that even with her eidetic memory it would still be a challenge to her, but Rema did it like it was the easiest thing in the world. It was frustratingly attractive, as was most everything about the princess.

They were in the forest, because it was easier to hide in the forest than on the roads, but it was also harder to maneuver. Most of the time, nowadays, they didn’t even ride on their horse. The forest was too thick, they would just lead the horse while they walked. Travel was slow, but at least they hadn’t been found so far. Thankfully, the trees were starting to thin out, so they would probably be able to start riding again.

A small flame rose up from the pile of wood, and Rema sat back, satisfied with her work. She turned to face Janice, who sat up, and smiled at her love. Rema quickly walked over to her and sat down beside her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. These past few weeks hadn’t been easy. There had been guards at every turn, and evading them was exhausting. She didn’t know how much longer they could keep it up.

On the bright side of things, they were almost to the border of the Sanders Empire. Once they were there, the guards wouldn’t be able to follow them, and the journey would be smoother. They should have been there long ago, but it was rather difficult. There was always the possibility of Rema being recognized every time they tried to go into town, and Janice’s appearance was quite memorable. 

Her golden eye was a blessing and a curse. The abilities it gave her were useful. She could always tell when someone was lying, she could see it. She could see the auras of magic users, though the only person she’d ever met with magic was Virgo. It was nice. But… a golden eye was hard to hide. They had managed to pass it off as just honey colored that looked gold in certain lighting back in court, but the people out here were more superstitious and less likely to believe that story.

And of course her hair was slightly unusual, since bob cuts weren’t very common, especially all the way on the outskirts of the kingdom. The way she carried herself. The predatory grace that commanded respect and fear. It was clear to anyone who got close enough to her that she was  _ not  _ from around here. And after a few close calls they had resolved not to trust anyone in the villages.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, Jan?” Rema asked, pulling her from her thoughts as the princess set her hand down next to Janice’s and intertwined their fingers. “And don’t say nothing. I know you. I know what it looks like when you’re thinking.”

“I was just thinking about how we got here.” Janice said, looking back up at the blue sky above them. “It’s funny. If you told me that this is where I would be a couple months ago when this whole thing started, I would have called you out for bullshit. But… time certainly seems to fly when you’re in love.”

Rema laughed. “I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing.” She said softly. “We’re here, aren’t we? We have one another, don’t we? What more do we need? I never liked dressing up and pretending to be content with my lifestyle anyway. I mean, being at court wasn’t all that bad, but my parents are assholes, and I do need excitement in my life every once in a while.”

“Well I rather liked where my life was at. I had a loving sister who I would kill and/or die for, a friendly rivalry with one of the most powerful ladies in the court, and of course, a girlfriend like no other.” She leaned in and pressed her lips to Rema’s. Rema squeaked, as if she had not been expecting that, and Janice took a vindictive sort of pleasure from having caught the princess off guard for once as she leaned back.

Rema didn’t get flustered very often. She did blush a lot, but she didn’t lose her breath or start stuttering on her speech. Now however, this was probably the most flustered Janice had ever seen her. “W-well, we should really start packing up camp after lunch. We can’t stay here for too much longer or-” A sharp crack rang through the air, cutting the princess off. A stick, something had stepped on a stick. Perhaps it was just an animal, but more cracks followed, as well as rustling as whoever was there moved branches out of the way.

Then they heard voices. Shit. There were a lot of voices, saying a lot of different things, but they were just murmurs, really, so neither of them could make out what they were saying. But the heavy footsteps continued towards them, and they knew. There was no doubt about it. This wasn’t just a hunting party, a hunting party wouldn’t be wearing so much armor. Which they definitely were, judging from the metal clanks in sync with the footsteps.

They had been found. For a moment, neither of them moved. Terror was coursing through Janice’s veins. They were really bad at this. First they had failed to cover their tracks during their secret relationship. Then they had failed to cover their tracks while they were running away. They really needed practice. Janice tried to move, but her joints were locked up. She couldn’t do a thing but sit on the ground and listen as the footsteps grew closer.

Rema shook her head, seemingly to clear it, and turned to her girlfriend, distress clear in her eyes. “Janice you need to go.” She hissed. Her voice was low, low enough that the people in there wouldn’t hear them.

“W-what?”

“You need to go! They’ll be here any second, and you need to be out of here by then. I’m willing to bet that if they tracked us all the way here, then they’re probably on foot, but they probably do have horses, so if you go now on horseback, they probably won’t be able to catch up with you. I’ll stall them. You know I’m the one they really came for.”

“I’m not leaving without you Rema.” Janice grabbed her love’s arm.

Rema looked at her with a pleading expression. “Janice, please. They won’t hurt me. I’m the heir to the throne, a princess. You are wanted for treason. There is a big difference between what kind of punishment we are going to recieve if we are caught.”

“I…”

“Do it Janice. Grab our bags, and go. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me. For  _ your sister. _ ” You sister. The words were like a knife to the stomach, and she knew Rema was right. She couldn’t do that to Virgo. She could just imagine her sister’s reaction to hearing that she had been caught. She would do everything in her power to stop it. She would out herself as a black magic user. From there she would either kill everyone, or be killed. She looked into Rema’s eyes and saw desperation. 

She knew that if she ran, and Rema gave herself up, they would take Rema back and most likely give up on the search for her. She wasn’t as important as their crown princess. But in turn, Rema would be giving up her freedom, and Janice would be alone.

She didn’t have much time to make up her mind. The guards were drawing closer, and Janice gritted her teeth. She sighed and looked her love up and down, taking in her appearance for what would probably be the last time. Her vision started to blur, but she ignored that in favor of giving Rema one last final kiss. It was far too quick, but there wasn’t time to give her a proper goodbye. The two of them shot to their feet, and Janice raced over to their bags, grabbing them before untying the horse and mounting it expertly. Rema had been giving her riding lessons, but she had never gone at a full gallop without Rema before. Oh boy.

Taking a deep breath, she spared one last glance back at Rema, who was openly crying. Rema wasn’t the type to cry, and that made it all the more heart wrenching. It was like an arrow straight through her heart. First her sister, now her lover. How many more people would she be forced to leave and never see again? At this point, who was left to leave?

She lowered her eyes to the ground. She couldn’t even meet Rema’s gaze while she was saying goodbye forever to her. “Goodbye.” She whispered, before turning back around and digging her heels in, flicking the reins, and taking off.

The terror of being a relatively inexperienced rider in the middle of the woods alone and being potentially chased was near overwhelming. She could barely stay on the saddle, and after a few minutes, she reached a point where she wasn’t even steering the horse. She was clinging onto the reins in her hands like her life depended on it, and honestly, it did. Even if she survived falling off a horse going at its top speed, there was no way she’d survive if guards were actually chasing her

She knew exactly what the border between kingdoms looked like, she had memorized several maps from libraries when they had still dared to go into town together. She knew that as soon as the forest ended and the farmland began, that was where the border started. While her home kingdom had been rocky, with mountains and pine forests and brittle land, the Sanders’ Empire was full of lush farmlands and farms. This is why their kingdom had decided to seek an ally in them all those decades ago.

The trees continued to get thinner and thinner, and after a while, she attempted to slow the pace of the horse. She eventually managed to get her to slow down to a trot, and then to a full stop, and she listened to the woods around her. There was nothing but the sounds of the forest, and it seemed that true to her word, Rema had held them off long enough for her to get away.

Just the thought of Rema made her crumple. Tears started running down her face, and she leaned down and buried her face in the horse’s mane, who snorted almost indignantly. That was certainly terrifying. And draining. Rema was gone, she was alone, with nothing but a small bag full of clothes. She wasn’t going to survive very long on her own. She was not a good hunter, and though Rema had stolen some money off of people in the villages, money was a very limited resource. She’d have to go into town and buy as much food as the money she had would buy, and hoped that it lasted long enough for her to figure out what to do from here. And maybe stop by the library and do some research on how to survive in the wild. That would probably help.

She flicked the reins, and started to move again, this time not quite as fast, but still urgent. She had work to do.

~~~~~~

Ramona was getting real sick of this. Vver since Rema left, her parents had been hovering over her shoulder almost constantly. It was as if they expected her to pull a similar stunt. As if she had any reason to. Virgo and Ramona had been incredibly cautious. They had set up a system to let the other know if it was safe, and Virgo could always disappear from view within a second. 

Their parents hadn’t even started to get suspicious, and everyone in the court brushed off her avoidance of Virgo during the day as her realizing she was too good for her and moving on. As if. Still, Ramona’s parents had started to make her attend all sorts of meetings with them. She ate dinner with them almost every other day now, and the effects of constantly having to sit up perfectly straight and repress her true self were starting to show.

Lola was starting to get concerned for her, and so was her new fiance. Ramona really liked Pamela, she was a very cheerful person who somehow remained optimistic even with everything going on. Her friends were often waiting for her in the library or just outside the dining room, and she spent a little bit of time with them when the day was done before retreating to her room and sending the signal for Virgo to let her know she was here and she was ready.

As of now, they were in the middle of the final meeting of the day, and she was sitting next to her parents at a long table, listening to some general talk about strategies for training new recruits, many of which sounded overly harsh or even downright cruel. But she wasn’t here to put in her opinion. She was here to sit still and smile and look pretty, even though her scalp ached from the constant rearranging of her hair into styles so tight none of her curls showed through, and even though she could hardly breathe from the corset she had been made to wear.

Honestly, the meetings themselves weren’t that bad. It was actually very informative to be able to listen in on these things, even if she wasn’t allowed to talk during them. She was finally getting an idea of the inner workings of the kingdom. This was good. If she became queen, or if Rema was found and she became queen, no one would be able to take advantage of a naive or uninformed queen. Ramona would know everything she needed to.

She wondered idly where her sister was now. In about three days, it would mark exactly one month since she had taken off, and Ramona hoped it would be longer. The longer she stayed out there, the longer she could be in her element. Rema was born for the outdoors, she had often interviewed soldiers coming back from the front lines on what their life was like in their camps, and what they had to do to survive. It fascinated her.

And of course, the longer the two girls avoided being found, the longer it would be until Janice’s execution. Maybe they would even manage to avoid that outcome at all. Her fake plastic smile softened at the thought. Wouldn’t that be something? For them to never be caught, for the two of them to actually get away and start a life together? She hoped her sister would be happy, wherever they ended up.

Unfortunately, it seemed the universe had other plans for them. There was a sharp knock on the door, and the general stopped talking. The king and queen’s heads snapped to the door, and Ramona’s father growled.

“What do you want?” Ramona had to give her father credit, nothing was quite as scary as his voice when he was angry or irritated. The door opened and a rather nervous guard stepped through.

Ramona’s mother tilted her head up and sneered. “This was supposed to be a private meeting. Why are you here?” 

“F-forgive me, Your Majesties, but I’m afraid it’s rather urgent.” The guard bowed, and Ramona could see that his hands were shaking a bit. She frowned, furrowing her brow. The poor thing, he was probably new to the guard.

“Well, get on with it.” The king snapped.

“We received word that the search party you sent out to look for Princess Rema is on their way home.” Ramona straightened, her eyes going wide. They were coming back? But that would mean… 

“So they have found them, then?” The Queen asked, her voice dangerously calm.

“W-well… they have found the Princess Rema. She is on her way home as we speak.” Ramona just barely resisted the urge to gasp, and then curse out loud. Just as she was thinking about her sister, too. Did the universe really hate her that much?

“And the other one?” Her father prodded. Ramona leaned forward slightly, eager to hear. If Janice had been caught…

“N-no, Your Majesty. Lady Lyre escaped. We believe she has crossed the border into the Sanders Empire.” Relief crashed through Ramona, even as her father cursed, and her mother let out a very un-queenly groan. Janice hadn’t been caught. Janice had made it out of the kingdom. She was safe. Virgo was going to be happy about that, at least.

“This is  _ unacceptable! _ ” The king roared. “Those men were tasked with bringing them  _ both  _ back to the castle, and they cannot even accomplish that! We’ll never catch that snake now!” Ramona winced at the word “snake.” Janice wasn’t evil, the royal couple was just being petty and ridiculous.

“Calm yourself, dear.” The queen said, her voice quiet but still angry. “The king of the Sanders Empire is on his way now with Prince Ethan for the engagement. We can discuss the topic of being on the lookout for her with them when they arrive. But the other girl was still found, and just in time for the marriage. They’ll arrive in a day’s time.” Ramona pursed her lips. She was rankled by how her parents refused to even call Rema by her true name, and surprised at the news of the arriving royalty. How had she not heard of this before today?

Their arrival was most certainly going to be a surprise to everyone at the court, and the king and queen would probably use that to their advantage. They’d make it seem like the decision to marry Rema to one of their princes was after considering a lot of different choices, and including Rema in them, but there had never been a choice. Not for Rema.

The king sighed and waved his hand at the guard. “Very well. Alert the castle staff that the princess will be returning soon.” The guard nodded frantically and left, and Ramona’s father turned to face the general. “I believe we may have to postpone this meeting until further notice.” He smiled tightly.

The general nodded. “Of course, Your Majesty. I look forward to speaking with you again.” He left the room, taking the maps he brought with him. 

The queen turned her cold gaze onto Ramona, and she resisted the urge to shrink back in her chair. “Ramona, you are free to go for the day. We will not be eating dinner together tonight, your father and I have much to discuss.” Ramona stood up and tried to make it look like she wasn’t too eager to leave, but she really wasn’t sure that she did a good job.

She couldn’t stop thinking. Rema was coming home. Rema. Was coming. Home. Part of her was happy that she was going to get to see her sister again, but the other part of her was… upset. Rema had worked so hard to get away, and she was just getting to stretch her wings for the first time and now… now they were being clipped again.

Ramona had no doubt in her mind that her parents wouldn’t hesitate to keep their daughter confined as much as possible to avoid something like this happening again. They’d hide it from the other kingdoms of course, it wouldn’t do for them to know their own crown princess had run away from her parents because of an affair. She could only hope that Prince Ethan wouldn’t be too much of an asshole.

Ramona stormed back to her room, and called a servant to help her out of the dress. The corset was laced so tightly she couldn’t do it by herself. When Rema was still with Ramona, they would help each other out of the ridiculous dresses their parents liked to make them wear. They hadn’t called a servant to help them in years.

Once the servant had given up trying to get Ramona to slip into another dress and left, Ramona slipped on a gray one sleeve blouse and loose black pants before taking her hair down and wiping off her makeup. She didn’t even bother with any jewelry, which was odd for her. Usually she had at least a necklace or bracelet, but not today.

She met her friends in the library, in the back corner Lola had constructed for them, and explained everything that happened. They all had… mixed reactions. Renae told them that there had been rumors about the king and prince of the Sanders Empire coming, but no one had been able to find any concrete evidence. Emily and Pamela were severely worried about Rema, and Lola was looking a bit overwhelmed, like it was all starting to get to her. Honestly, Ramona felt like she understood that way too well. So much was happening, and she didn’t know how much longer she could deal with it.

At the end of the day, Ramona collapsed onto her bed, with no intention of falling asleep, no matter how much her body protested. She laid there for a few minutes, just trying to process everything that had happened today. She couldn’t. Eventually, she forced herself to sit up. Virgo was waiting for her signal. Ramona walked over to her vanity and picked up the crystal prism on it. It was a beautiful thing, with red and purple swirling together. Virgo had made it herself, if she remembered correctly. She tapped her finger on the point, and it glowed briefly, letting Virgo know from her matching crystal that it was safe.

There were a few moments of silence as Ramona waited in anticipation for her love. Then, a section of her floor began to glow purple. A rune drew itself on the floor boards, and shadows started swirling out of it, small at first, and then larger, creating a pitch black funnel of shadows so thick Ramona couldn’t see through them. She wasn’t scared. The first time this had happened, she had screeched in surprise, but now she didn’t even blink.

The shadows dissipated and Virgo stood on the rune, which was now slowly fading away. She looked better. Janice’s disappearance had hit her hard, but she was doing better now. Ramona was glad for that.

“Hello Stormcloud.” Ramona said, walking over to her and embracing her.

“Hey Ramona.” Virgo pulled back and smiled at her, but it dimmed when she looked at Ramona’s face. “Is… is something wrong? You look tired.” She looked her up and down. Ramona suddenly felt very self conscious about her messy appearance. “I know your parents have really been hard on you lately, but geez. This is the worst I’ve ever seen you. What happened?”

Ramona took a deep breath. “It seems that our sisters weren’t fast enough.” Virgo took a few moments to process that, and then her eyes went wide. She sucked in a breath, panic written across her face. Ramona realized what she implied and internally freaked out, quickly rushing to fix her mistake. “No no no no, it’s not like that. From what I’ve heard, Janice managed to get away. She ran while the guards were distracted with Rema. But Rema… yeah, she’s on her way back to the castle.” Virgo let out a breath, clearly relieved. She sank down to the floor, leaning back against the wall.

“God, don’t scare me like that.” Her voice was breathy, and Ramona knew she was trying to reconcile. When Virgo looked back at her, it was with a guilty expression on her face. “I don’t know if i should really feel relieved since Rema still got caught.” 

Ramona smiled gently at her. “Don’t worry about it. She’s your sister, and we both know that the punishment if she had been caught would have been much worse than what they’ll probably do to Rema. I’m relieved too. I know how much she means to you. And to Rema.” She frowned at the thought of what her sister must have been going through. “She’ll arrive tomorrow. I can only imagine how my parents are going to react to her. I really hoped this wouldn’t happen.”

Virgo nodded. “I guess we just… we just have to see what happens from here.” Ramona made a noise of agreement, and sat down next to Virgo. The two of them stayed like that for a long time, and eventually, Virgo leaned over, resting her head on Ramona’s shoulder and reaching down to take her hand.

After a while, Ramona felt Virgo relax, the tension in her body disappearing, and when Ramona looked over, she was asleep.

Ramona smiled softly at her. She didn’t understand how anyone could be scared of this girl. She was just like everyone else. And she didn’t want to hurt anybody. It was ridiculous how rumors could turn a complex human being into an inhuman creature who was defined by a single characteristic. Ramona moved to face Virgo, gently bracing her with one of her arms. She then scooped her up and stood up, carrying her over to the bed, and set her down on the fluffy comforter.

Tucking her in, she arranged some of the extra pillows to hide Virgo from the view of anyone who might come in during the night and quickly changed into a nightgown. She then brushed out her hair again, and slipped under the covers on the other side of the bed.

In the blink of an eye, she was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh… yeah the way I chose the name of the princes of the Sanders Empire was basically looking at all the names that we used for Janus before his name reveal and picking out some of my favorites. There’s Ethan, the youngest besides Tamsin, Dolos and Dorian, the twins, and Lyal, the eldest and heir to the throne who is married to Daniella and has a son named Damien. This family really likes D-names.
> 
> And yes, you'll get to meet all of them, though not all of them are plot relevant. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading so far! I appreciate the support you guys have been giving me.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rema meets her new fiancé. It goes... not terribly, actually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings: Cursing, implied child neglect/abuse

The next morning, Ramona was awakened by the sound of knocking on her door. Her heart rate spiked, and looked over to see that Virgo had, at some point in the night, got up and left, hopefully with magic.

Letting out a relieved breath, knowing that Virgo wasn’t about to get found out, she frantically combed through her hair and tried to make herself somewhat presentable before turning her head to face the door. 

“Come in, it’s unlocked.” Which in hindsight, was probably not the smartest move when she was trying to keep her secret girlfriend a _secret._ She was expecting a servant to come in, but instead it was her sister who waltzed on in through the door. That was unusual, as Rema had never knocked before, but Ramona didn’t particularly care about that right now. She leapt out of bed and flew across the room, crashing into her sister and knocking them both to the floor, letting out a shriek of pure joy and relief.

“Nice to see you too, sis.” Rema said, her voice tired. Ramona was very near crying, which she thought was reasonable, seeing as just two days ago she thought she would never see her twin’s face again.

“Rema! Oh my god! Oh my god I’ve _missed_ you. You have no idea, I was so worried! And I was happy that you got away from the palace but it was so lonely without you I missed your never ending chaos and it just didn’t feel as full without you and-” She was interrupted by a sob that escaped her throat.

Rema patted her back awkwardly. “Yeah… I missed you too, Rara.” Ramona looked up and took in her sister’s face. Now that she was looking at it, she was shocked. Her sister was wearing _makeup_. She was wearing dark green eyeshadow and a bit of gold eyeliner on. Her cheeks were dusted with a light pink and her lips were a deep burgundy.

Rema noticed her staring and blushed. “I… I had to see Mom and Dad first thing. I came straight here afterwards.”

Ramona made a concerned noise and looked her up and down for injuries, reaching up and brushing her sister’s cheek with her hand lightly. “Did they… did they do anything to you?”

Rema shrugged. “Nothing that will leave a mark. The prince I’m going to marry is coming today, and we want to make a ‘good impression.’” Normally Ramona would have laughed at her sister’s tone, and she still would have, if not for the expression on her face.

“What if…” Rema whispered. “What if he… doesn’t like me? And I know it’s a stupid thing to think about, because I’m certainly not gonna like him, but what if he doesn’t like me? What if he thinks I’m weird, and decides he doesn’t want to marry me, and then he’ll be forced to anyway?”

Ah. Ramona smiled gently at her sister and pushed herself back up to her feet. “That won’t happen.” She assured her, offering a hand to Rema, who took it. “Look, I know Mom and Dad always tell you that you aren’t good enough but that’s not true. You’re going to make an amazing queen one day, and if he doesn’t like you, that’s his problem. But I’m sure that won’t happen. I’ve heard good things about Prince Ethan, from unbiased sources. I don’t think we’ll have too much of an issue.”

Rema looked down at the floor, and Ramona took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “Thanks Rara.” Rema said after a moment of silence.

Ramona grinned at her. “No problem Remee. Now can you help me? I need to get dressed.”

~~~~~~

A few hours later, Rema stood in front of the palace gates, tight-laced into a dress with a waist so tiny she could hardly breathe. Through the gates, she could see a procession of carriages coming closer and closer. Knights rode on horses, swords attached to their hips and the crest of the Sanders Empire painted on their armor. The closer they got, the more uncomfortable Rema became. After all, each step the horses took was another step towards her, another step towards her future. She hated it.

Unconsciously, her hand drifted to a gold bracelet around her wrist. It was overly complicated, decorated with more emeralds and sapphires than strictly necessary, and with too many carvings, but fidgeting with it was the only thing bringing her any source of comfort. Her mother glared at her and she dropped her hand back down to her side.

A couple of guards stood behind the royal family, only adding to Rema’s discomfort. They had been following her around all morning, and Rema didn’t think they were going to stop anytime soon. She had no doubt that she could slip away from them easily, seeing as she had worked hard to create the illusion that she was pure chaos incarnate, incapable of being subtle. She had managed to pull off so many pranks that way, yet no one ever seemed to catch on. It was perfect, and she was sure she could use that reputation to her advantage here.

As of yet, however, she had not been presented with a good opportunity. Aside from seeing Ramona, her parents had kept her right by their sides all morning. She was getting real sick of it. There had already been an announcement for her return, where her parents had acted so _grateful_ that she had returned and the rest of the court kept telling her how much they _missed_ her. It was total bullshit.

Some of the courtiers, she knew, had actually been quite fond of her chaos. Many on the younger side had been genuine in their concern, asking if she was okay and expressing their condolences over Janice. They knew she hadn’t been seduced into running away like her parents heavily implied she was.

Those in their old age, however, had been stiff and completely unwelcoming even when they were smiling and welcoming her home. Rema wondered if any of them had been hoping that she wouldn’t come back. She was too wily to control, and they would have gladly accepted another queen that was less… unpredictable.

She shook off these thoughts as the castle gate opened, and the carriages pulled through, coming to a stop in front of the palace steps where they were waiting. Rema held her breath, hoping that whoever stepped out wouldn’t be too much of a dick.

First came the king, who looked almost comically stereotypical. He was old, which made sense, he must have only been in his fifties or sixties, seeing as his eldest child, the one who would be getting crowned the new king in just a month or so, was in his thirties, but he looked so much older. He was still a regal and quite frankly intimidating figure, though Rema was sure that if Janice were here she could have beat him in that department. His hair was gray and his hairline was receding, but he had a beard and cold gray eyes. It was like he was colorless.

His outfit was pristine, decorated, and expensive looking. The crown that sat on his head was laden with jewels, and on his face he wore a frown.

The next person to step out of the carriage was much less decorated. His outfit was simple, a finely made white shirt with a bit of embroidery and simple pants, and that was it. If it weren’t for the circlet on his head, she would have assumed that he was a servant instead of the prince. Well, he didn’t look like a douche at least.

Rema’s father smiled warmly at their new guests. “Welcome, King Brennus. Prince Ethan.” He said, nodding at both of them. “It is wonderful to see you again. It has been far too long since you have visited.”

King Brennus smiled politely, though there was no real warmth in it. In fact, it seemed rather cold. “It would seem so.” He turned his gaze onto Rema, and she immediately felt herself stiffen up. “And you must be Princess Rema. I believe the last time I met you, you were merely a child, barely five years old.”

Rema smiled calmly, trying to remember this. She failed. “It is wonderful to meet you officially, Your Majesty.”

The king’s eyes softened. “Please, just Brennus will be fine.” He said, warmth bleeding into his tone. It took Rema off guard, and she wondered if she looked as uncomfortable as she felt. The king nodded his head towards the prince. “My son, Prince Ethan.” Rema smiled politely, and he dipped his head in acknowledgement. He looked just as awkward and out of place as she did, if not more so. Oh. Oh no. He… he was _adorable._ Rema had to remind herself that he was a year older than her.

“King Brennus.” Rema’s mother cut back in, and Rema had to stop herself from flinching at her voice. “Come, we have many things to… discuss.” Rema felt herself tense up. They were going to talk about putting a bounty on Janice. “Let us go inside. We have set up a meal for the two lovebirds so that they may get to know one another.”

Rema had to stop herself from scowling. They had just met, there was no way they could be “lovebirds,” even if she hadn’t already been in love with someone else. Prince Ethan looked just as confused and uncomfortable, though he seemed significantly less angry.

The king smiled again, the warmth gone once more. “Of course.” They walked up the stairs, back towards the entrance of the palace. The prince awkwardly held out his arm for Rema to take, and Rema gingerly took it, trying to touch him as little as possible. He seemed to share the sentiment.

Rema led the prince to the room their parents had set up, which was deceptively casual. Pillows and cushions were scattered all across the floor, and tea and sandwiches were set up and a low to the ground coffee table. Rema was honestly quite surprised it wasn’t some fancy banquet, her parents preferred those, after all.

The guards that her parents assigned to follow her around attempted to come in as well, but the prince, much to Rema’s surprise, stopped them.

“I would like some time alone with my new fiance. Without the interruption of… other company.” He said. The guards looked at one another, as if debating whether or not to listen to him or not, but they eventually nodded, and the prince shut the door on them.

Immediately, his posture changed. He slumped down, resting his forehead against the door and sighing in relief. After a moment, he turned back around and smiled sheepishly at Rema, who was still tense.

“I’m incredibly sorry about them. Do they follow you everywhere?” He asked.

Rema shrugged. “They only started today. I guess they didn’t want me pulling anything on the day I got engaged.” She muttered.

“Oh that sucks.” He replied, crossing over to the table and sitting down on one of the cushions. Rema was taken aback by his informal language, and he gestured to the seat across from him. Rema sighed and crossed over to it, though it was a real struggle trying to figure out how to sit down in her bulky skirt. Looking at the prince’s outfit compared to hers, she suddenly felt overdressed, something she was not at all prepared for.

There were a few moments of rather awkward silence, and eventually Rema reached forward for the teapot and began to pour some into her cup. There were no servants to do it for her, which was nice. It truly was just the two of them.

“So.” She began, after a truly uncomfortable amount of time had passed. “I suppose I’m supposed to get to know you, Your Highness.”

“Oh please, just call me Ethan. We’re already in this shitty situation together, we might as well get rid of the formalities at this point.”

Rema relaxed slightly. “Then… you can just call me Rema. I… I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you but…”

Ethan laughed out loud. “I know, I know. I want to be straightforward with you, I have no intentions of pursuing any form of romance with you. I know you probably feel the same way, and my father doesn’t want this either, judging by how much crap he talks about your parents, I doubt they’d listen to you if you said you didn’t want to get married, so now we’re stuck.”

Rema let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding in. “Oh thank god. No offense but I’m not interested either. It’s not you, you seem like a pretty nice guy, actually, it’s just…”

“You… have someone else?” Ethan guessed. Rema nodded sullenly, not bothering to hide it. “There… there were rumors. They said that you ran away from home with another girl. The story was apparently that she seduced you into it, but seeing you now… I don’t really think you’d fall for that.”

Rema laughed despite herself. “You’d be surprised. Jan can be quite convincing. But nah, it was my idea. We tried going the covert route and we got found out. I burst into her room in the middle of the night, scared the crap out of her.” She didn’t know why she was spilling all this so soon, but it just felt right. She needed this guy to understand that Janice didn’t deserve any of what was happening to her.

Ethan nodded, smiling slightly. “Do you know where she is now?” Rema was immediately defensive again, tensing back up, and he raised his hands in a placating motion. “I’m only asking because I want to help. Apparently they found you by the borders of our kingdom. Is this true?”

Rema didn’t trust him, not by a long shot. He seemed nice, but for all she knew, he was just trying to trick her into giving him information. He seemed to realize his argument wasn’t very convincing, because he slumped back over.

“Look, I get it. I… I too have someone back home. Someone who is beneath my status, and therefore I could never officially be with, without some backlash, but someone I love all the same. I know you don’t trust me, because you’re afraid I’ll hurt her. But I swear, on my honor as a prince, that I won’t. I just need to know if she crossed over into our kingdom. If she did, then we can protect her. We can find her and keep her safe for you.” He looked so honest, so eager. There was no faking the earnesty on his face. 

Rema was tempted to tell him. She didn’t know if he was entirely safe yet, but she really, _really_ wanted to trust him. It would be good to have an ally in this enormous mess she found herself in. And if they could protect Janice from her parents…

She shook her head. “My parents are probably telling your father some twisted version of the story right now. He’ll probably put a bounty on her head.”

Ethan thought this over for a second, and then his eyes lit up. “I can talk to him. He’ll listen to me, he knows I don’t want to be in this position, even though there weren’t many other options, and he’s a reasonable guy. We’re not that close but… he’s a fair ruler. And besides, these days, Lyal has taken over with ruling for the most part. He’s basically already king, all that’s left is a big ceremony to make it official. Even if Father won’t listen, which I find highly unlikely, Lyal certainly will.”

Rema smiled softly. She didn’t believe it quite yet, but… “Yeah. Yeah okay. I don’t know for sure where she is, but I do know that when we were found, we were really close to crossing borders. She’s definitely in your kingdom somewhere. We made plans to go to the mountain range that’s sort of neutral territory, and live there. She’ll be on her way there.”

Ethan smiled. “Perfect. I’ll talk to Father about it.” He picked up a sandwich. “Now. What else do you want to talk about?”

Several topics and many sandwiches later, Rema was laying on the ground staring up at the ceiling, with Ethan leaning on the table and just barely resisting the urge to collapse. Rema was starting to wonder what the hell was taking their parents so long?

“You know I will admit.” Ethan said. “When I heard I was getting engaged to you, I was a little scared. You have… something of a reputation.”

Rema laughed out loud. “Yeah I know. I don’t care much. I’m the heir the kingdom got, and they’re stuck with me, it seems. I’m honestly a little surprised they didn’t immediately name Ramona the heir when I ran away. God knows she’s the more desirable twin.”

“I don't think that’s true.” Ethan said nonchalantly. Rema bolted upright and stared at him. “What? You seem plenty desirable to me. You’re a really nice person, and I think you’re chaotic energy is a lot of fun. I was scared that you would be… less than kind, but you’re actually really cool. I mean… I don’t think I could ever fall in love with you, but I could see myself married to you, even if there’s no love involved.”

Rema let out a breath. “Yeah, I could say the same. I mean, I was actually kind of worried you’d be a dickhead, because these sorts of forced engagements don’t tend to work out this way, but I’m glad it’s you. You’re cool.”

Ethan let out a breathy laugh. “Well that’s good to know.” The two sat in silence, to the point where it was beginning to get awkward again. “So uh… you have a twin?”

Rema sat up straighter immediately. “Yeah, I do.”

“What’s she like? Is she anything like you?”

“No, actually, she’s everything I’m not.” Rema laughed. “Ramona’s an amazing sister, you know. We help each other out a lot. Even when she’s mad at me, she still helps me. Lola has often told us that we’re inarguably the closest pair of siblings in the court. Uncontested, until Janice and her sister came around…” She bit the inside of her cheek, not really wanting to return to the topic of Janice.

“I have a sister too.” Ethan said, seeming to catch the hint. “Her name’s Tamsin. She’s really mischievous, always playing pranks on our older brothers. She’s the court sweetheart, she could comit murder and everyone would look the other way. Of course, she is very sweet, and if anyone touches me or any of our brothers, all hell breaks loose. She’s younger than me by about… five years? She’s only eighteen, but she has already got her sights set on someone.”

Rema leaned forward, resting her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand. “Ooh, you can’t tell me that and just not say anything else? C’mon, who is it?”

Ethan seemed to be thinking it over “Well… you don’t actually know her yet, and when you do, you’ll be able to tell immediately so…” He drifted off for a few more seconds, and then looked up. “Her name is Nicolette Flores. Real sweetheart, a musician too. Her father is pretty close with our father, so a match between them is conceivable, but we’ll see where it goes.”

Rema nodded. “Rara’s got her heart set on someone too.” Ethan raised an eyebrow, an invitation to continue. “I don’t know where they stand right now, but they did seem pretty in love. I haven’t talked to her much though, haven’t really gotten the chance.”

Ethan thankfully didn’t press for details like Rema would have. He continued talking about his siblings, talking about how Crown Prince Lyal was married to Princess Daniella, a princess from another court. He talked about how they met at a celebration in Daniella’s kingdom, and fell head over heels in love, and eventually wound up married.

He talked about their son, Damien, who was as sweet as he was rowdy. He talked about the twins, Dolos and Dorian, and how they both have their sights set on someone as well. Rema wondered how he could keep up with four siblings, but Ethan said it wasn’t really a competition.

“Like I said, I was never really close with Mom, and I’m not particularly close with Dad, but they’re still really kind. I know they still love me, they made it apparent every chance they got. We just… didn’t have many interests in common.”

“All my parents ever talk to me about is A, marriage, B, being queen someday, and C, my sexuality. It’s been four years, and they’re still convinced it’s a phase. Same with my sister being gay. They don’t understand, and I don’t think they want to understand. They don’t bother to teach me anything about ruling a kingdom, and then blame me when I don’t know what to do in certain situations.” She was getting really angry now.

“ I… I wish I could have parents like yours. Brennus does seem really kind, and… I’ve never really known what it was like to have a loving mother. It would be nice.” Rema sighed, looking out the window. She had just thought that dynamics between parents and their children in royal families were always this strained. She had never considered the option that maybe having such strict parents, even when said parents were the rulers of an entire kingdom, wasn’t normal.

“I… part of me wants to say that I’m sure they just want the best for you but… a royal couple that doesn’t take the time to teach their child how to rule, actively neglects them most of the time, and then nitpicks them whenever they do pay attention to them, is not a good parent. They may be a good ruler, but they are not good people, and they don’t deserve someone like you.”

Rema blinked in surprise. She looked down at the table, and could feel the prince’s questioning gaze on her. “Sorry, it’s just… the only other people who talked to me like that are Ramona and Janice. They always tell me I’m better than my parents, and that I’m going to be a great queen, but I never really believed them.”

Ethan nodded. “When you’ve been told negative things about yourself all your life, it becomes difficult to accept compliments. But that doesn’t make them any less genuine. The people who put you down are the people who don’t matter. They don’t deserve to see you crumble before them.”

“They’re… they’re my parents. And the king and queen. I’d hardly say that they aren’t important.” She said, a weak smile on her face.

Ethan shrugged. “Like I said, they don’t matter. At least, they don’t matter when it comes to deciding who you should take criticism from. Don’t block out all criticism entirely, it’s how you become a better person, but don’t listen to every little negative thing people say about you. It’s only going to drag you down. With time, I’m sure you’ll learn to differentiate between someone genuinely trying to give you advice and someone just trying to put you down.”

Rema shook her head. “This… I’m sorry, but you know how it is. I just… I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to accept compliments without them feeling weird.”

Ethan shook his head and smiled. “Well, we have the rest of our lives to test that theory.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and before either one of them could answer, the guards opened the doors, and Rema’s parents strolled in with Ethan’s father right beside them. Rema’s mother gave the two of them a deceptively gentle smile that no one in the entire room believed for a second.

“I believe that we have given you two enough time to sufficiently get to know one another.” She said, her voice sweeter than honey. “Rema darling, come, we’re having dinner with your sister soon.” Ethan looked at her, wondering what she was going to do.

“Yes Mother.” Rema said, resisting the urge to raise her shoulders. She stood up carefully and walked over to her parents.

“Dad, I need to talk to you.” She heard Ethan say as she and her parents left the room. They walked down the halls towards the dining room, and Rema felt relieved that she wasn’t going to get an interrogation with all the servants and Ramona around. She felt much lighter than she had this morning, knowing that Janice was safe. She took a deep breath, and picked up the pace.

~~~~~~

Ethan finished explaining the situation to his father, who was stroking his beard with one hand and looking deep in thought. He started nervously fidgeting with his hands, wondering if his father was going to believe Ethan over the king and queen. He knew Father wasn’t fond of them, but they still did have a lot of authority compared to Ethan.

“This is news to me Ethan.” He said finally. “It seems that every side of the story we have heard is biased, uninformative, or completely incorrect.”

That sounded… good. Ethan decided to push it. “Please, Dad. Rema is really in love with this girl, and being raised in a court, she probably isn’t suited to surviving on her own. She won’t last very long out there, we need to find her and make sure she’s safe.”

His father sighed. “Yes I know. Alright. We’re not staying here for too long. We’ll be heading back home within a week. I’ll send a letter ahead to Lyal, and have him start the search. We’ll have to be careful, make sure this doesn’t get out. I don’t think we can even trust the knights with our true intentions, we don’t know if any of them might try to sell us out for a prize.” 

Ethan nodded. “So we disguise it. Make it look like we’re hunting her down but not really. But… what about the castle guards?”

“The castle guards we can keep an eye on easier. You know the staff, they trust Tamsin. You know that if they catch wind of anything suspicious, they’ll go straight to her. I think we’ll be safe.”

Ethan sighed. “Okay… Okay. We can do this. We have to do this.”

His father nodded and smiled softly. “How did you find the princess? I know you have your lover back home, but I hope she was at least friendly?”

Ethan smiled to himself. “She’s really nice. Not anything like the rumors we’ve heard about her. I could definitely see us being good friends in the future.”

Father raised an eyebrow. “You have no intention of staying engaged to her, do you?”

“Nope” Ethan said, popping the p at the end. “She has her love, and I have mine. As soon as she is crowned queen, we are breaking off the engagement.”

His father laughed. “I never expected anything less from you. But I’m glad you like her. She’ll be a powerful ally someday.”

Ethan laughed and smiled. “That she will be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes I am including Nico in this AU because WHY THE HELL NOT. I don't know when the next chapter is going to come out, especially since I'm in an awkward place where I don't know exactly where I'm going to take it from here. I know where the plot is going, I just haven't quite figured out how and when we're going to get there.
> 
> But anyway, if you've read this far, thank you for sticking around. I know I'm not very consistent with updates, and your continued support is very much appreciated. <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janice meets Rema's fiancé

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Drugging, kidnapping, minor language

It had only been two and a half weeks without Rema, and Janice was miserable. She had said it before and she’d say it again, she wasn’t suited to survive out here on her own. Her food supply was dwindling, but she didn’t have any money to buy more. She didn’t know how to hunt, and while she was always subtle enough to steal bits of information off of people in court, that always required posturing, which she excelled at. She doubted she was subtle enough to pickpocket someone, especially when it required a different kind of subtlety.

She sighed and leaned back against a tree. There were no forests to hide in here, she was out in the open much more than she would have preferred. Part of her contemplated the pros and cons of going back to her home kingdom, but she decided against it. They would be expecting her there. She was just going to have to manage.

Janice missed her love so much. She missed Virgo, she missed Lola, she missed everyone. Some days so much so that it physically felt like someone was stabbing her. Before, she’d had Rema, and Rema was enough to keep her from crashing and burning. But not anymore. Rema was gone, Rema was back at the palace, engaged to a stranger. Janice hoped that the stranger at the very least was being kind to her. She was so much more fragile than she admitted. And Janice- well, Janice was losing it.

If nothing else, Janice supposed that at least Rema would get a reunion with her sister. That was nice, at least. She wouldn’t be alone anymore, even if Janice was. 

Carefully, Janice stood up, packing up the few things she still had with her. She supposed she had been pretty sheltered, growing up in the court. She had always known that, but for the first time, she understood what that meant. She didn’t know how to do anything for herself, though she was learning. She had learned (somewhat) how to cook, and how to wash her clothes, and do basic things that she should have learned a long time ago if she was being honest with herself. She hadn’t realized how spoiled she had been up until that point.

She threw her bag and Rema’s bag over her shoulder, trying not to let everything overwhelm her. Rema had said they were going to go to the valley in between mountain ranges, as it was neutral land, and that they were going to build a home for themselves there. Janice didn’t know if that dream was realistic anymore. She wouldn’t survive on her own.

Part of her wondered why she even bothered going on. Rema was gone, her old life was destroyed, and she was probably never going to see her sister again. It seemed pointless to even continue on with living.

But she always shook those thoughts off. Rema did not surrender herself just so she could go and off herself. Her love had made many sacrifices for her, giving up her soft and royal life, giving up the title of a princess, and then, when they were found, giving up everything they had gained for her.

Her loved ones were counting on her to survive. And she was going to try, right up until the very end. She doubted she would last much longer, but at the very least, she would make sure she did not end up becoming her own downfall. She would save that to starvation, or wild animal attacks, or guards with orders to kill her on sight.

She was tired and worn down, and as such, she didn’t hear a thing. She didn’t realize that there was someone behind her, someone with ill intentions. Even if she did know, she didn’t have enough energy to run away. All she knew was that suddenly a cloth was over her nose and mouth, clearly laced with some kind of chemical, and suddenly her instincts kicked into action.

She kicked and screamed and tried her very best not to breathe in, but the fact was that she would either pass out from lack of oxygen, or she would pass out from chemicals, and there wasn’t much she could do about that. She wasn’t physically very strong, or anything of a fighter. Her weapon of choice had always been her words and her mind, but neither of those things helped here. Especially when she couldn’t talk and could barely even think.

Whatever was on the cloth was incredibly potent, within moments she could feel it kicking into action, slowing her movements, her thought process, and dimming her screams. It quickly changed from a battle against whoever had her to a battle to stay conscious, and a losing battle at that.

Black spots dotted her vision, slowly growing until she couldn’t see anything anymore. She felt her body slump down, going limp against her will, and knew that she was seconds away from losing consciousness entirely. Unfortunately, knowing you’ve been drugged doesn’t stop the drugs from doing its job. That was all she managed to think before she slipped into darkness.

Coming out of a drug induced sleep wasn’t pleasant. That was her first thought when she regained consciousness. Her head was pounding, and she felt the sudden urge to tear all of her hair out even though, realistically, it wouldn’t help. Everything was sore and aching, probably because for the first time in weeks, she was sleeping on a real bed instead of on the ground.

That realization jerked her rudely from the last remnants of her drug-inducd sleep, and she jolted upright, immediately regretting it as the world spun. She was in a bed. And a really comfortable one at that. She gripped her head with her hand, and looked down at herself. She was cleaner than she had been in weeks, her skin free of all the dirt and grime she had collected over the course of her stay in the wilderness. She was wearing a silk nightgown the color of the sky, simple but finely made. What on Earth had happened while she was asleep?

She looked around the room she was in, with white walls and high ceilings, and saw sunlight streaming in through huge windows. The whole place was light and airy, open in a way the palace back at her kingdom could never be. Where the hell was she?

She took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair and distantly realizing that it was softer and less tangled than it had been when she had fallen asleep. A door opened, and a boy poked his head in. He looked about her age, maybe a year younger, and had a soft face shape and brown hair. There was a certain gentleness about him that made Janice relax infinitesimally. She wondered if maybe she would survive this whole ordeal after all.

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” The boy stepped into the room. He must be some sort of nobility, seeing as he was wearing clothes that were, like Janice’s nightgown, simple but finely made and probably expensive. That was a bit worrying, that she had been taken to some lord or lady’s housing after being drugged. But he looked friendly enough, not that appearances were an accurate way to judge someone. “We were starting to get worried. You didn’t wake up at all during the journey back here, even after the drugs should have run out of your system. We were starting to wonder if something was wrong.”

Janice frowned and looked around the room again. “Well I haven’t exactly been sleeping well. It’s hard to when you’re in perpetual danger of being found and killed.” 

The boy smiled a bit. “I suppose it is.” He crossed the room and sat down in one of the chairs. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions, so first thing’s first… my name is Prince Ethan Sanders. You’re in our palace, having been brought here by the guard. I’m engaged to Rema.” Janice sucked in a sharp breath, tensing up. So much for surviving this encounter. “I apologize for the rough handling, we didn’t want to risk word getting out that we were looking for you.”

Janice furrowed her brow, her racing mind stumbling over the prince’s wording. “You… apologize… for roughly handling a wanted criminal?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay that wasn’t the best wording.” The prince said, looking a bit sheepish. He took a deep breath and looked out the windows. “Rema explained the whole situation to me. She’s a really sweet girl, eccentric, I can see why you like her. Every other source we had heard the story from was either biased or completely wrong, so when we heard it straight from Rema, we agreed to help her. We’ve been trying to find you for about a week now. I guess it’s lucky that we found you so soon. You seemed to be in pretty bad shape.”

Janice blinked in bewilderment. He wanted to… help them? “I… I’m not sure I follow. Why wouldn’t you want anyone knowing that you were looking for me?”

Prince Ethan laughed. “What I’m saying is that we didn’t want our guards to know that we were actually trying to help you, because we didn’t want word to reach Rema’s parents. We didn’t know if we could fully trust them.” Janice noticed how he didn’t refer to the royal couple as the king or queen, but instead simply as the parents of his friend. “So we framed it as looking for a criminal, but I’m really sorry about that. We didn’t know they would drug you.”

Janice shrugged. “It’s alright, Your Highness. I understand.” 

“Please, call me Ethan. No one here really bothers with titles unless it’s for something formal.” Ethan offered her a smile. He did have a nice smile. Okay, sue her, but she liked her lover’s fiance. She was glad this was the man Rema was going to marry.

“So… what now?” She asked.

Ethan shrugged. “Well, we promised Rema we’d protect you, so you’ll stay here with us. She told us you’re not really good at surviving in the forest.”

“You know I would be offended except that you’re completely right.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. Immediately she found out just how skewed her balance was, and she wobbled a bit, before gripping the bedpost to steady herself. Ethan watched her with concern, his twitching hands and tense posture telling Janice that he would not hesitate to steady her if she fell. “I hope your court is friendlier towards strangers than ours is.”

Ethan smiled. “I promise it is.” He stood up and headed towards the door. “I’ll have someone send in a couple of outfits to choose from. Sorry if they don’t fit well, we can see the seamstresses later if you want. Then do you mind coming with me to the library? My little sister has been dying to meet you.” Janice nodded mutely. Ethan offered her one more smile and slipped through the doors.

Janice slowly walked around the room, trying to regain her balance and exploring. There were no personal belongings or anything, which made sense, this was probably a guest room. But there was a couch, a fireplace, a vanity, what was probably a walk in closet, a changing screen, and a final door that when she checked, was, yeah, it was a bathroom. It was about the same as the guest rooms in the castle back home. But this one somehow felt bigger. It was probably all the white and the natural light filtering in.

Huge french doors led out onto a balcony. She pulled them open and stepped outside, her bare feet touching the smooth… marble? Immediately the scent of salt hit her. A cool breeze blew past her, and she reached the railings of the balcony, gasping at the sight before her. The palace was built on a cliff, it dropped down, and at the bottom was a beach, with sparkling white-gold sand. Past the beach, the ocean stretched out as far as she could see, the sun reflecting against it and making it glitter. It was beautiful.

She stayed there for a few minutes staring in awe, basking in the warm light and enjoying the scent of the ocean before she heard someone gently clear their throat from behind her. She turned around and saw a servant, probably in her mid-forties, standing in the middle of the room with a couple of different outfits in her arms. She stepped back inside and closed the doors.

After a few minutes of picking out an outfit and changing, she ended up in an off the shoulder gown that went down to the floor and fit surprisingly well, only puddling a tiny bit. The color was a creamy yellow, and the fabric was light and breathable. Janice liked the way it swished when she walked. Don’t get her wrong, she liked wearing pants as well, but goddamnit she had missed wearing dresses. They weren’t exactly practical for trying to run away from home.

She admired herself in the mirror for a few minutes before remembering that Ethan had wanted to see her. She asked the servant how to get to the library, before leaving her room. The hallways of the palace felt just as open as her room, with tall ceilings, chandeliers with crystals hanging from the ceiling, and big windows that stretched from floor to ceiling in some places.

She reached the door that she was ninety-nine percent sure was the library and pushed it open, taking in just how beautiful it was, with a glass ceiling and bookshelves that covered the entire walls, more books jammed into them than she would have thought possible.

There were a couple seating areas, and a few people scattered around them, but the people who caught her eye were two figures sitting together, leaning over a book at a table. One of them she recognized immediately. The other she hadn’t met, but knew immediately who she was. She froze, and her jaw dropped. The girl, who Janice assumed was Ethan’s sister, was  _ glowing _ .

The thing about Janice was that she could see lies. She had been able to ever since an accident with one of her sister’s potions a year earlier. Her golden eye was not something she had been born with, contrary to what everyone in the court thought, but something that she had gained from an accident. And aside from seeing lies, a side effect from the potion was that Janice could now also see magic auras. 

Her sister’s magic aura had taken some getting used to. It was mostly black, tinged with purple, and swirled around her like a mass of shadows. Most times it wasn’t that noticeable, Janice had gotten used to it and as long as she wasn’t freaking out, the only thing it did was give her an outline.

Ethan’s sister, it appeared, also had an aura. Hers was nothing like Virgo’s though, which made it all the more shocking. The only person with magic that she’d ever interacted with was Virgo, so she had no idea if all people with magic had auras similar to hers, but it was just so… different! If auras could have polar opposites, Janice was sure that this was Virgo’s. Instead of swirling around, it shined, almost like a halo that lined her body, the way someone in the sunset would look when the sunlight hit them from behind. It was opalescent, shining like a pearl, and mostly white but with flashes of pastel colors appearing every so often.

Ethan’s sister looked up, and locked eyes with Janice. Ethan followed her gaze and smiled when she saw her. He waved her over, and Janice found herself walking towards the table, keeping one amazed eye on the princess.

“You have magic.” She blurted when she reached the table, and kicked herself mentally. Great opener, Lyre.

The princess raised an eyebrow. “And you are covered in magic residue.” Ethan was looking between the two of them, bewildered.

“You can see her aura?” He said, looking up at Janice.

“She can.” The princess confirmed. “I’d say it has something to do with her golden eye. That’s not the sort of thing that just happens naturally.” Wow. That was fast. Janice briefly considered denying it, but the princess had already proven she could see the residue of Virgo’s magic on her, so there was really no point to it.

She sat down in one of the empty chairs and clasped her hands together on the surface of the table. “I’ll admit, I’m surprised. I never would have expected the princess of the Sanders Empire to have magic.”

The princess’s lips twitched. “Yeah, we’ve worked really hard to keep it a secret from other kingdoms. Not all of them are as friendly towards magic as we are. Though… from the looks of it, I’m not your first encounter with a witch.” Janice smiled but didn’t bother elaborating. After a few moments where the princess realized she wasn’t going to get an answer out of her, she sighed. “My name is Princess Thomasina Sanders, but literally  _ everyone _ calls me Tamsin. No one ever uses my real name unless I’m in trouble or we’re attending official business. Nice to finally meet you.”

Janice nodded, a calm smile on her face. “Likewise. You can call me Janice.”

As it turns out, Janice really liked Tamsin. She was snarky and witty, sassy in ways that reminded Janice of Virgo, almost painfully so. She had no doubt that the two of them would get along wonderfully if they ever met. Tamsin was also incredibly smart, and well versed when it came to magic. She taught Janice a lot about how magic worked, all of which Janice stored away so that if she ever managed to make contact with Virgo again, she could tell her.

“A Hex is a person born without natural magic who uses magic through things like potion making, alchemy, and spell cards, which are the size and feel of playing cards, but each has a spell on it that doesn’t require any natural magic to use, usually a rune.” Tamsin explained. “Some hexes aren’t satisfied with this level of magic, though, so they turn to dark magic instead. Dark magic is harmful to the Hex and more often than not, it ends up consuming them. Because of the connotations that come with both Dark magic and Black magic, many people assume the terms are interchangeable. But that would be incorrect.”

Janice raised an eyebrow. “They are… different then? How so?”

Tamsin took a deep breath. “Natural magic is… kind of like a color spectrum, or even a color wheel. No two witches’ magic is exactly the same, but many are similar enough that they can fit into categories. As such, the categories have been given colors that are typically associated. The healing category is given the aqua through teal range, basically all the different types of blue-green, floral abilities are given green, water related magics are given blue, the list goes on. And as such, black magic is really just another type of magic. It isn’t harmful to the user in any way, and tts magic focuses mostly as death, shadows, corruption, all things with distinctly negative connotations. But it does not by any means guarantee that a person with black magic is a bad person. There are many examples throughout history where witches with black magic have become heroes.”

Janice nodded. This was… this was actually really interesting. “What type of magic are you?”

“Oh, I have white magic. It’s basically the opposite of black magic. Life, purification, light, all that stuff. White and black magic are basically the yin and yang of the magic wheel. The two ends of the spectrum, if it could truly be considered a spectrum. It’s impossible for someone’s magic to be pure, like pure green magic or pure black magic, but I’m about as close as you could get to it.” She smiled brightly.

Janice started piecing things together in her head. Virgo was definitely a black magic user, though her magic seemed to focus more on the shadow element of it. Tamsin also explained that there were common spells that all types of magic could achieve, things like levitation or teleportation, though it would manifest differently for each magic type. She remembered that Virgo had been working on a potion that would allow her to see into the future, and had been… incredibly close to getting it right. 

“Is future vision a common magic?” She asked suddenly. 

Tamsin stopped talking, blinking in surprise, but then shook her head. “No, future vision is impossible for most witches. It requires breaking the barrier of time, and that is just not something anyone can do. That is unless you have purple magic. Purple magic focuses mostly on psychic abilities. So, future vision, yes, but also the ability to get into other people’s minds and mess around in there. I always thought it would be cool to have, but I have white magic instead, which, bummer, but hey, it’s no big deal.” She shrugged.

If… if Virgo was a black magic user, then why would she be able to get anywhere close to a future vision potion? Janice bit her lower lip, thinking. Virgo had once used a spell to change everyone’s memory after the potion accident that left her with the golden eye. She had passed out for three days afterwards and granted, there had been a lot of people in the castle whose memories she needed to change, but still. During her little coma, she had mumbled things that sounded a lot like visions of some far off future, none of which she remembered when she woke up.

“Is it possible for someone to fall into multiple categories?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Tamsin nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah totally! It’s not too common, but there are definitely cases where people don’t fit into one singular category, and find themselves able to do spells that fit into two different categories instead. Normally when this happens, they’ll be better at one category than the other, and they are usually grouped in with that group, just so most people know what their specialty is. It’s very rare for them to be split right down the middle. And I’ve never heard of anyone fitting into more than two categories, but I wouldn’t say that that's impossible either.”

Janice nodded. “Thank you, Tamsin, that was very informative. You seem very well informed about this topic.”

Tamsin rolled her eyes. “Duh. I have magic, so it makes sense that I’d want to be educated on the subject. I know that your kingdom isn’t very welcoming of it though. Didn’t you execute someone a couple years ago because they were accused of using magic?” Janice winced. That would be Virgo’s father. “I feel bad for witches in kingdoms like yours. Magic isn’t meant to be repressed, and if it is, it could hurt them and grow out of control. Not knowing these things could seriously impact a witch struggling to keep their magic a secret.”

Oh, Janice knew repressing magic was bad. Virgo had tried to repress it for the first eighteen years of her life! It was only after Janice had found out about it and encouraged her to embrace and and start learning about it that she stopped actively trying to shove it away. She remembered the day when Virgo admitted sometimes having to soundproof her room and then having to let out the power she was building up all at once. Janice hadn’t witnessed it, but it was apparently very explosive.

She hummed thoughtfully. “I have to admit, I am unfamiliar with the princesses’ stance on magic.” Well, one princess’s stance. She knew that Ramona was very much in love with her sister, even with her magic. “But I know Rema, and I know that she is a kind soul. If I ever saw her again, I have no doubt that I would be able to convince her to change the way the kingdom looks at magic.”

Tamsin and Ethan looked at one another, excited and slightly mischievous looks on their faces.

“Actually…” Ethan started. “We were thinking. Since my engagement with Rema is official now, we were wondering if we could invite them over for a special engagement party.” He spoke in a mysterious tone, and wiggled his eyebrows.

“We want to have a masquerade!!” Tamsin shouted. “Think about it! A masquerade ball to celebrate the engagement? They’d all visit us here, so you’d get to see Rema again! And, if we dress you up right, no one would even recognize you. You’d be able to join the party, and no one would even know! I bet I could find a glamor or something to put on the mask so no one could tell it’s you.”

“You’d… You’d do that for me?” Janice asked, surprised. Her heart leapt in her chest at the thought of seeing Rema again. Maybe… maybe even Virgo would come along? She doubted it, after all, only really important nobility would be attending, but still. Even if she wasn’t there, she could still ask Ramona or Rema about her.

“Yeah, of course. We know how much you must miss her. I mean, Ethan missed his love the entire time he was in your kingdom. They wouldn’t stop making out for like god knows how long after he got back.” Tamsin said. Ethan glared at her but didn’t say anything. Tamsin was grinning and it was kind of cheeky, but no less contagious. Janice found herself fighting the urge to smile like a maniac.

She watched the resolve in Ethan’s eyes crumbling away before he melted under her grin and started smiling back. Watching the two of them interact hurt, she was reminded so very much of how she and Virgo would talk to one another. Ethan ruffled Tamsin’s hair, and she batted his hand away playfully. The familiar gesture felt like a knife to the gut. How many times had she done that to Virgo? And how many times had Virgo responded in the exact same way? She smiled sadly to herself, feeling a tear slip down her cheek. At least V was safe. She’d be able to ask after her soon enough.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited. This whole AU started out as an excuse to draw the sides as girls in ballgowns. This whole story started out with a simple vision in my head of Ramona and Virgo dancing around a ballroom with one another. We're about to get to that part of the story that started it all.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News of the masquerade reaches our main cast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No chapter warnings for this one, I don't think. Enjoy the fluff :)

Rema stared at the letter in her hand, unsure of whether to open it just yet or not. She was just being silly, there was no real reason why she was hesitant. She knew who it was from, it was definitely from Ethan. He promised to send word as soon as he found Janice, and said that he would disguise it as a love letter. Well, he certainly succeeded on that account. The envelope was covered in doodles of hearts and other symbols that typically represented love, and when she sniffed it, yep, that was definitely perfume.

The guards that now stayed with her at all times were fortunately not allowed in her room, seeing as entering the crown princess’s chambers without her permission was a punishable offense, and she had on multiple occasions thought about jumping out the window and running away again. She had yet to act on her urges to do so, but it was a very close thing.

She sighed and carefully broke the seal, removing the letter from inside. It had been left on her vanity, and the fact that the envelope was still intact told her that her parents had not read it, which was a relief. Ramona probably got her hands on it first and just didn’t give it to them, which Rema would have to thank her for later.

She unfolded the paper and took note of Ethan’s handwriting, which was small but not unreadably so, and neat but not obsessively so, like Lola’s could be. It seemed formal yet natural, just like she’d expect a prince’s handwriting to be. If only hers could be as readable. She admired the handwriting for a few moments before taking a deep breath, and starting to read the letter.

_ My Dearest Rema _

She snorted at the opener.

_ I apologize that I couldn’t reach out to you sooner. We had to find a way to contact you that we could be certain would reach you without reaching the king and queen, and that took longer than expected. The messenger we sent probably wasn’t allowed into the castle, but we made arrangements with your sister before we left instructing her to intercept any mail in the coming weeks to take your parents herself, so that any letters we sent were taken directly to you. _

Rema rolled her eyes, she knew all of this. Quickly, she skimmed over the next few lines that were mundane details and updates, looking for one specific sentence.

_ As you can probably tell by the fact that this letter has arrived at all, we have successfully located Janice, and brought her back to the palace. She is here safe with us, and we will continue to shelter and protect her. She is doing well for herself, and has already made allies with my sister. That pairing can only end in chaos. I understand that you still may be reluctant to trust me, seeing as we have only met recently and you have reason to trust my intentions, so I have asked Janice herself to write a paragraph or two to assure you. _

Rema gasped as she realized the next few lines switched from Ethan’s handwriting to a slightly bigger, more elegant style that she recognized immediately.

_ Rema, I know you’re probably reading this right now, so hello Dearest. I’ve missed you terribly. Rema I am so sorry. I knew that courting you had its risks, and I knew what would happen if we went ahead with it, and I did it anyway. Now look where it has brought us. I can’t say I regret it though, and I doubt I ever will. I love you so much, Dearest. I always will. _

_ Ethan and his siblings have been very kind to me thus far, and his sister is an absolute delight. You’d adore her, I’m sure. As Ethan has written above, we have devised a plan so that we may see one another. Along with this letter, we sent an invitation to the king and queen, for a masquerade ball. It is taking place in just over a month or so, and in the Sanders’ Empire. Officially, it is to celebrate the new king’s coronation, as well as your engagement to Ethan. But Ethan and his sister have been working on this plan ever since they found me in the woods in an attempt to reunite the two of us. _

Rema’s shock and disbelief grew with each passing word. Ethan… was trying to figure out… a way for her to see Janice? She went back and read the things she skipped over before and sure enough, Ethan had written about it. She felt a small grin form, and then felt as it slowly grew bigger, until she couldn’t contain her excitement anymore and started dancing around the room, jumping up and down and just trying to get some of her energy out. If the guards came in to see what all the noise was, her behavior could easily be read as a giddy queen-to-be in love. But she wasn’t even thinking about that. She was just thinking about how she was going to get to see Janice again! In just a few weeks!

It felt like an eternity since they had seen one another, even though it really couldn’t have been more than a few weeks, and waiting another month would suck, yes, but she would have something to look forward to at the very least! She was going to see her love again!

Finally, she took a deep breath, and sat down once more to finish reading the letter. Janice described what her life looked like, and from what it sounded like, she really was being treated well. The level of detail in her description could not be faked. 

Then at the bottom, beneath her and Ethan’s signatures, there was a small note, so small that Rema almost missed it.

_ P.S. Rema darling, I know that it is risky to tell anyone about this set up we have here, outside of you and your sister, but I have become increasingly worried about Virgo’s mental state. As such, I have included a smaller letter for her within the envelope. Be a dear and deliver it to her for me? _

There was a small drawing of her and Janice sitting together under a tree in the orchard in the bottom left corner. Rema picked up the envelope and looked inside, and sure enough, there was another piece of paper she hadn’t seen before. Carefully she took it out, and gently set in in her pocket. She’d have to deliver that to the emo at some point today, though she would have to slip past her guards for a few minutes to do so.

She knew she should probably burn the letter, but at the same time, she didn’t want to let go of the only thing she really had left of her love. The only news she had heard from Janice in weeks. She didn’t want to let it go. Instead, she opened her dresser drawer, and buried it under her clothing.

Then she stood up, and opened the doors, offering the guards a polite but purposefully unnerving smile. It had the desired effect of making them uncomfortable, but not in a way they could show without seeming rude. She started walking down the halls, and if the guards walked a little further behind her than normal, well, she wasn’t going to say anything about it.

~~~~~~

Virgo’s mental health was suffering. To be fair, this was not quite as bad as when she lost her father, and now she had a girlfriend to help her through it. But she still missed her sister. So much so that it physically hurt her every time she thought about Janice. Some days were better than others. Some days, if she didn’t focus on it, she could almost forget that Janice was gone, that she was never going to see her again. But then other days she would wake up and the pain became so unbearable she couldn’t even crawl out of bed. Those days, when she went to visit Ramona, they would spend the night holding one another, while Ramona whispered her reassurances and stroked her hair.

Those days weren’t as often as they used to be. The longer time went on, the less it hurt. She wouldn’t be over it for a very long time though, that was for sure. Her girlfriend was very patient and understanding though, and she was always there to help Virgo.

And oh wow, was it weird to be referring to the princess as her girlfriend. It was a fantasy she never thought she’d get to live through, and didn’t expect to last. She was sure that eventually, Ramona would move on, but for now, it was absolutely perfect.

Ramona was always very careful about her boundaries. Virgo wasn’t quite ready for more intense things, such as kissing and… everything that followed, but Ramona was fine with that. She was patient in a way Virgo honestly hadn’t expected her to be. She never tried to force Virgo into anything, never even talked about it. She was waiting for Virgo to bring it up on her own when she was ready.

“Hey, Emo.” A voice from behind her brought her out of her thoughts and caused her to jump. She whipped around and let out a breath of relief when her brain registered the voice and face. For a split second, she thought that it was Ramona, except that Ramona usually didn’t risk talking to her out in open halls. Her nicknames were also much more affectionate.

Rema was standing in front of her, one hand on her hip and the other clutching what looked to be a piece of paper. Virgo was a little unnerved. The guards that had been at her side ever since she had returned were conspicuously absent, and that was a little off putting. What was she doing here without them?

“...Hey.” She didn’t know the other princess all that well, despite the fact that she had comforted Virgo before, and her sister was literally dating her. But Rema was known to be unpredictable and being alone with her when she was secretly dating her sister was honestly not what Virgo would like to be doing right now.

“I gotta talk to you.” Rema’s voice was uncharacteristically soft and serious, her expression somewhere between smug and solemn.

“Is that not what you're doing right now?” She couldn’t resist snarking back.

Rema laughed. “Well yeah, but we gotta go somewhere private. And we gotta do it fast, because the guards are probably searching for me outside right now. It’ll take them a little while for them to realize I’m not trying to run away again and that I haven’t even left the castle, but we need to do this before they come to that conclusion.”

“How did you even manage to lose them?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to never find out. Sorry.” She flashed her a smile. ...Yeah okay, Virgo could see what Janice liked about Rema. The princess turned and motioned for Virgo to follow her before beginning to walk down the hall. She did, unsure of what else she was supposed to do.

They walked in silence, and after a little while, they ended up in the orchard. Rema led her to a tree that was a bit bigger than the others and sat her down.

“I thought you said the guards would be looking for you out here.” Virgo said, looking around warily. “I don’t think we can afford to be seen with one another.”

Rema waved off her concern. “They’re searching outside the castle grounds right now. None of them know me well enough to know that I’d come here first.” She turned the folded piece of paper in her hands over and over, taking a deep breath. “Janice sent me a letter.”

Virgo froze. That was not the opener she had been expecting. Did- had she even heard that right? Janice… had sent her a letter? Wasn’t that risky? How did it even get here? And why had she written to Rema but not Virgo? A little bit of pain broke through her confusion, but she did her best to push it down. Janice probably wanted to soothe Rema’s fear of her being caught after she left.

“...What did she say?” Virgo asked cautiously. Even if the words weren’t directed at her, she still wanted to know.

“Oh you know, the basics. She apologized for being separated, vaguely told me where she was, and that she was okay. Nothing too detailed.” Rema shrugged. “It… it was nice to hear from her. From her letter, it sounded like she was doing relatively well for herself, all things considered. Ethan found her, and brought her back to the palace, so she’s safe for real now.”

Virgo’s racing mind stumbled a bit. “...Ethan?” Who was that?

“Oh that’s right, you probably didn’t meet him. He’s better known as ‘Prince Ethan Sanders.’”

S...Sanders!?  _ “S _ **_h_ ** _ e’ _ **_s b_ ** _ een  _ **_cau_ ** _ ght! _ **_?_ ** _ ” _ Virgo shrieked. A little bit of magic leaked into her voice, but there Rema thankfully didn’t seem to notice.

Rema shushed her. “Calm down! It’s not what you think. Ethan and I made an… arrangement. He promised to cover for her and shelter her from my parents. She’s safe, I promise. She wouldn’t have been able to send me a letter if she had been locked in a dungeon somewhere.”

That… that did make sense, actually. “I’m assuming that that’s the letter, then.” Virgo gestured to the folded paper still in the princess’s hand.

Rema, to her surprise, shook her head. “No, it’s not. That letter was technically from her  _ and _ Ethan, so it’s back in my room to avoid the possibility of someone finding it. But she sent something for you too.” 

Virgo’s head was reeling from all the new information. The prince of the kingdom’s closest ally had promised to hide a wanted refugee inside of his own palace, and Janice had thought it safe to send a letter to not only Rema, but to her as well?

“She did?” Her voice was so quiet she didn’t think Rema heard it at first. She hadn’t heard word of her sister in months, and now she had suddenly sent her a letter?

Rema nodded and held out the paper. “You don’t have to read it here. In fact, I should probably head back inside and meet up with the guards. I can’t be missing for too much longer or my parents will really start to panic. Or… maybe I should, that could be fun. Anyways, it’s like you said. We should probably split up before we’re spotted. See ya later Emo!” The princess stood up and gave her a two fingered salute before running off towards one of the entrances.

Virgo watched her go and then stared down at the letter in her hands. She stayed under the tree for another few minutes, not quite willing to move, and not quite sure this was really happening either. After so long without any sort of communication from Janice, this whole thing felt so surreal. Part of her didn’t want to leave this moment.

But she reluctantly stood up, unwilling to be caught. She was not in the mood to be questioned, no matter how inconspicuous one piece of paper might appear. There was never any shortage of suspicion towards her in the court, and she was sure that if someone saw her, they would call her out. After leaving the orchard to avoid the possibility of someone watching from a window and stepping inside, she cast a teleportation spell and let the shadows consume her. When they disappeared, she was back in her bedroom.

Quickly she crossed over to her bed, flopping down on her back and holding the letter out, as if holding it at a different angle would make it look different. She didn’t know exactly what was in the letter, but she knew that reading it would hurt. It wouldn’t be meant to hurt her, quite the opposite, she was sure, but it would hurt her all the same. It would hurt in the same way looking at her dad’s old things hurt. One of the worst kinds of pain was seeing things that belonged to someone you will never see again.

Carefully, she flipped open the paper, still hesitant but not wanting to wait and wonder any longer. Somehow, she was surprised to see that Janice’s handwriting hadn’t changed in the slightest, not since the last note she had given Virgo, a parting note. Somehow that didn’t feel right. So much had happened to both of them, so much had changed, it felt wrong that her handwriting didn’t reflect that.

But it was also comforting in its familiarity. The corners of her lips tugged upwards ever so slightly. Some things would never change, and those constants would keep her steady. She took a deep breath, bracing for whatever Janice had written. 

_ My Dearest Virgo, _

_ I trust that Rema has safely delivered you this note without reading it over first, and explained at least the basic details of my situation as of now. As such, I will spare you the lengthy explanation I had planned, seeing as I know you hate those. _

Virgo smiled and chuckled to herself. No one would ever know her as well as Janice did.

_ Virgo, let me start out by saying that I am so, so sorry that this ever even happened at all. Rema and I were careless, and we paid the price for it. If you ever find the need to carry out a secret relationship with, totally random example, Princess Ramona, I advise that you use more caution than I did. _

_ Oh you have no idea _ . Virgo thought, snorting a little at her sister’s words. God, this entire letter so just so  _ her _ . The elegance of her wording and writing coexisting right alongside the perfectly balanced sarcasm, she could practically hear Janice saying these things in her head.

_ I know that when I left you, you were in a bad place, having recently exposed yourself to the princess. I trust that you haven’t regretted that decision thus far, seeing as when I left, you had not been outed to the public, and we all know how much Ramona  _ loves _ waiting games. _

_ You’d be surprised _ . Virgo thought absentmindedly. Ramona could be patient when it came to certain things. But she did understand her sister’s point. 

_ I’m sorry I had to leave at such a time, I promise that if I had had any say in the matter, I would have never left your side. Things have gotten rather complicated, but as I have promised, we will see each other again. _

_ The royal family of the Sanders Empire has decided to host a masquerade ball to celebrate both the crowning of the new king, and Rema’s engagement. The entire royal family is going to be there, as will many of their close advisors. I am unsure of whether or not you will be able to attend this ball, but going by the assumption that you have repaired your relationship with Ramona, perhaps the two of you could figure something out? _

_ Even if you aren’t able to make it, Rema will be able to tell me everything that has been going on. I have been  _ starved _ for gossip, you wouldn’t  _ believe _ this court, not a single scandal in decades! I’m sure Ramona won’t be excited at  _ all _ by the prospect of a masquerade, seeing as she, like me, has always had a taste for the dramatics. Things are getting better, Vee. I’m safe, you’re safe, and that’s all that really matters right now, isn’t it? _

_ I love you. _

_ ~Janice _

Virgo felt a lump rise in her throat. Her vision blurred slightly as tears formed, and she folded the paper and set it down before she got tears on it and ruined the writing like she did with the last note Janice had given her. She still had it tucked away, in a locked box whose only key was magic. The box itself was cloaked in invisibility as well, and it was where she kept everything she didn’t want others to see, apart from the entire section of her room that was covered in illusions.

She slid off her bed and knelt down, feeling blindly underneath her bed until she hit something solid, and used both hands to pull it out. She didn’t feel the slightest confusion that there appeared to be nothing in her hands, and whispered a small charm. The invisibility fell away, and she studied the black chest, eventually being satisfied when it appeared that no one had touched it. She reached up onto her bed to grab the letter, feeling around for it for a bit before she found it.

Idly, she traced the lock with her finger, smiling to herself. This type of magic was a basic genetic lock, it would only open with her touch. She had modeled it to look like a regular trunk so if she ever forgot to cast the invisibility, no one would think anything of it, and they wouldn’t be able to find the key to it.

Virgo stopped tracing the gold surrounding the keyhole and put her finger up against it, covering it up completely with her finger pad. The keyhole glowed purple for a moment, some of the light just barely leaking out around the edges, and then the trunk popped open. She carefully opened the letter and read through it once more, before setting it inside and closing the trunk, hearing the automatic lock click into place.

She cast the invisibility spell over the box and shoved it under her bed once more, leaning back on her heels and sighing. Her mind drifted, and soon she wondered how long she and Ramona could keep their relationship a secret. They had certainly done better than their sisters, but… she was getting kind of tired of having to constantly wait for nightfall. The gardens were beautiful at night, but she missed walking through them with Ramona in the daytime. She wanted to go out riding with her, visit the market and explore the town and do other things that the princess wasn’t supposed to do.

She sometimes watched Ramona spar with the guards, but she was always in the shadows for that. She wanted to be out in the open cheering her on, but that wasn’t possible as of now. She enjoyed showing Ramona spells, at least. The princess was absolutely enchanted by even simple spells that Virgo mastered a long time ago.

Then again, it wasn’t like she had had any contact with someone with magic before. She didn’t know what was considered impressive and what was considered basic. She had thought the illusion spell she used to hide her workshop was impressive, when in reality it was as easy as breathing to Virgo. As were repair spells, transportation and levitation spells, and basic healing potions, but Ramona was amazed by all of it.

It was nice that someone thought she was special, even if she didn’t feel like she was. She knew that she was different, but that was never a good thing. Being different tended to get people in trouble. Ramona, however, didn’t see any of that. She didn’t see the potential consequences of getting found out, though she knew the danger was always there, she just saw Virgo. And that was enough for her.

~~~~~~

Ramona was ecstatic about the news of the ball. They’d be leaving for it in a little less than a month, seeing as it would take them a while to travel to the other kingdom, and she knew she had to scramble to get ready. Ball gowns were not easy to make, and she wanted to make one for  _ all _ of her friends. She knew that the Paynes were coming, and by extension, the Payne sisters’ fiances, so that was four dresses for just them. Of course, she also had to do one for herself and her sister, and… was Virgo coming along? Did she need to make one for Virgo? 

Oh, and Janice was apparently at the Sanders’ palace too… she didn’t know all the details of that, but she knew the basic gist of it. Rema had given her a brief rundown of everything. Although… she probably didn’t have to make a dress for Janice, seeing as she didn’t know her measurements and the tailors at the Sanders’ palace would probably make one for her.

With all of those people counted that would be… six or seven dresses! Holy crap, she had a lot of work to do. She was already whipping up the first pass of designs for all of them. She had a good idea of what she wanted hers to look like, and Lola and Rema’s were easy to puzzle out, as she knew them quite well, and knew what they would like. The others she was still trying to figure out, and would probably need a second pass of designs for.

But as of now, she was working out the pattern for her own dress. She barely even noticed when Virgo slipped into her room, though she knew that she was there from the shadow tornado that appeared out of the corner of her eyes. She just kept working. Eventually, Ramona pinned the last piece of her first pattern attempt down to the mannequin and turned around to see Virgo staring at her intently.

“What?” Ramona asked, feeling her face heat up a bit.

“I’ve never seen you work on clothing before.” Virgo replied, shrugging. “It was interesting. Are you making your own dress for the masquerade?”

Ramona smiled. “Ah, so you heard about it too?” Virgo nodded. “Then yes, this is my dress. I’m making dresses for all my friends who are coming. So I have mine, then Lola, Pamela, Emily, and Renae’s dresses to do.”

“That’s a lot of work. Are you going to be able to finish the dresses in time?” Virgo furrowed her brow.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I can handle it.” She was pretty sure she could handle it anyway. 

Virgo giggled a bit. “If you say so.” She looked Ramona up and down. “You know…” She stated, a smirk on her lips. “Somehow I don’t think your parents are going to approve of you making your own dress for the ball.”

Ramona shrugged. “I’m already dating the daughter of a disgraced lord behind their backs. One more act of rebellion won’t hurt.” Virgo laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. Ramona smiled softly at her, feeling the heat rise back to her face. “Are you coming?” she asked suddenly. Virgo’s head shot up to meet her gaze, her eyes wide.

She chewed on her thumbnail, worrying it between her teeth. “I… I don’t think so. I mean, my family isn’t very important, and I don’t… I don’t know how I’d even go. Your parents wouldn’t let me.”

“As if my parents have any say in the matter. I asked you if you were coming, because I need to know if I have to make you a dress too.”

Virgo bit her lower lip. “Oh, that’s okay. I don’t think it’s possible. You don’t have to make anything for me.”

Ramona’s gaze softened. “Do you want to come?” Virgo hesitated, reaching up and playing with a lock of hair. “Be honest. I know Rema probably told you about what’s going on with your sister, right?” Virgo nodded. “So do you want to come?”

“I…” She took a deep breath and pressed her lips into a thin line, rubbing the back of her neck. “I do.” She admitted softly.

“Then you’re coming.” Ramona said. “I worked on a few designs for your dress just in case you were.” Virgo opened her mouth to protest, but Ramona held up a hand. “This isn’t something we’re arguing on. We’ll figure out the details later, but if you want to come, then you’re coming. I’ll make sure of it.”

Virgo still looked like she wanted to argue, but said nothing. After a few moments where she realized Ramona was actually serious, her expression melted into that adorable little smile Ramona loved so much.

“Okay… thanks Mona. I love you.”

Ramona smiled at the nickname. “I love you too.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. We're getting somewhere and I am EXCITED!
> 
> Thank you for reading this far <3
> 
> When we get to the part where their dresses are described, I will be posting links to what I imagine each of their dresses look like.
> 
> I don't care if the fashion for this story is all over the place. I mean, it's already a mess. Most of it doesn't look like it's from the medieval era. I don't know what time frame the fashion I've made is from but it sure as hell isn't the medieval era. 
> 
> So the ball gowns are going to be from modern images. :/ Forgive me for not being historically accurate XD


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last minute preparations are made, then the girls' departure from their home kingdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! It's been a while. Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I didn't mean to go this long without writing for this story. This is honestly kind of a filler chapter, so not actually happens, but there is kind of a little plot? Honestly we're just bridging the gaps between plot points so we can get to the part I'm most excited about.
> 
> CW: None for this chapter, I don't think. Correct me if I'm wrong!

The castle was alive with activity, with maids and servants bustling around, making last minute preparations for the departure of the royal family and the Paynes, which was set for the following day. Last minute changes to plans were bound to happen in trips such as this, and Ramona had experienced the rush before they left before during the few times she had actually left the kingdom, as well as the many times where her parents left them by themselves to travel someplace else. The last time Ramona had traveled outside of the kingdom… she was pretty sure she had only been ten or eleven. Twelve at the very most. Their parents stopped bringing them along as soon as they were old enough to stay at the castle without adult supervision, or perhaps just a bit sooner than they should have.

Rema was with their parents, currently sitting in at a meeting, which was becoming quite common. Ramona was a bit worried for her sister, as her parents had never been very kind to either of them, but not too concerned. As long as Rema was in the presence of nobles and advisors, she couldn’t be hurt. Her parents seemed to suddenly be taking their duties of training the future queen seriously, but it wasn’t going well from what she had heard. Rema had never been known for being a very good student, as she wasn’t fond of the traditional method of learning, and their parents weren’t very good, or patient teachers. There was a lot of yelling that went on behind the scenes.

On top of her nightly visits from Virgo, Ramona would end up spending the entire evening after Rema got out of meetings and training with her twin sister, eager to both catch up with her twin and to make sure she was alright. The guards that followed Rema around were never far behind, but Ramona was usually able to convince them to watch from a distance rather than right up close. Her parents didn’t take that well, but they couldn’t do anything about it without admitting that the guards weren’t actually for Rema’s protection, but to spy on her and everything she did. The situation wasn’t ideal, but at the very least they were able to talk freely without someone breathing down their necks.

The dresses Ramona had constructed for everyone were finished. Pamela had dropped by one day and asked if she would like help finishing them, and Ramona had accepted. The other woman was a bit clumsy when it came to more intricate sewing techniques, but she had a good eye for color and helped sew together the basic shape of one or two of the dresses. Lola had also stopped by and offered her help, and though she had no knowledge of how to sew, she was precise and caught on quickly.

Everyone seemed to love theirs, they had all tried it on in their own time to make sure they fit, and brought them to Ramona if they needed altering in any way shape or form. She had helped with Rema’s fitting, and her sister had looked positively radiant in the gown. 

It was sleeveless, with a green bodice and a corset on the outside. The skirt itself was a black glittery fabric, and a layered shimmering green overlay covering the back of it. Ramona was positive she hadn’t seen her sister so enthusiastic about a dress before. 

The others were just as happy with theirs, she had even caught Pamela spinning around in her room wearing hers, which made Ramona unbelievably happy. She always found such satisfaction in seeing others enjoy what she made for them.

The only one she hadn’t seen wearing the dress she constructed was Virgo. She had offered to help Virgo with her fitting, but the offer was almost violently rejected. Ramona was a little hurt, did her stormcloud not like the dress? But Virgo had quickly assured her that she loved it and the gown was everything she could have ever wanted. She just didn’t know if people would think the dress looked bad on her and was too nervous to let her see it. Ramona was fine with that, Stormy would show her when she was ready.

On top of helping her with the dresses, Pamela, with help from Lola, had also designed masks to go along with each dress. It was a masquerade after all. And they were all simply stunning. Ramona’s mask had a gold base, with lighter gold accents. Along the top ran dark red decorations that mimicked leaves, as well as a braid of gold and a single red strand. In the center, just below her forehead, sat a beautiful blood red gemstone, and on the side was a burgundy fabric rose. 

Ramona had debated if a tiara was even necessary with a mask as extravagant as this, and if it would clash or make it look like too much, but she eventually decided on a small, lightweight one consisting of golden leaves and small red gems shaped like flowers.

Rema’s mask was simpler, with a black base and green and silver flowers painted on the sides. An intricate silver butterfly sat between the eye holes just above the bridge of her nose. Her tiara was bigger, silver with emeralds decorating it.

The others had their own jewelry they planned to wear to the party, all except for Virgo. V didn’t really have a lot of jewelry, she never wore it and didn’t really want anything that would draw attention to her. She had told Ramona that she  _ would  _ borrow maybe a necklace or something from her mother, except her mother hated it when she took something that belonged to her, and all over hers were cheaply made and overly gaudy anyway.

So Ramona was currently rooting through her collection, trying to find something that would fit her stormcloud. It had to be simple, Stormy wouldn’t accept anything that was too complicated or over the top, but Ramona also didn’t want it to be simple to the point where it barely made a difference.

She had selected several candidates, ranging from necklaces to earrings to hair pieces, and had discarded even more. She wanted it to be perfect, something Virgo would wear for years past the ball. She turned her head to look through yet another section of her poorly organized collection of jewelry she didn’t wear much, as she had already gone through the stuff she did wear, and a darker color caught her eye. Most of her jewelry were bright, rich colors, and she was pretty sure that the darkest piece she had ever owned was a sapphire bracelet that she gave to Lola at some point.

However, the piece she laid her eyes on was one she didn’t even remember she had had in her possession. Ramona was pretty sure it was a gift from a suitor, though she couldn’t remember which one. She didn’t remember half of their names anyway, much less their faces.

It was a comb, small but very pretty, and part of Ramona wondered why she had never worn it before. Probably because she didn’t have anything that would go along with it. The comb featured a rose made of shiny deep purple glass that she could only kind of see through, the edges of the petals rimmed in gold. The comb part itself was also gold, and purple leaves and vines came out from the sides, making up the rest of it. Small diamonds decorated the center of the rose as well as some of the space between leaves.

She reached out and picked it up, turning it over in her hands a couple times to get a feel for it. It was finely made, probably a custom order, and probably very expensive. It was lightweight, to the point where if she were wearing it, Ramona could and probably would easily forget that it was there at all. It was perfect. In the future, if they ever reached a point where they no longer needed to hide their relationship, Ramona would have gifts made specifically for Virgo, instead of just giving her something that had been previously owned. But for now, this would do.

She smiled and tucked it into the pocket of her dress, opening the door to her closet and stepping out. She was sure Virgo would love it, and it would go wonderfully with the dress she had made. Ramona resolved to give it to her on the night of the ball. Yeah, that would be romantic.

She looked out her window and saw that the sun was gone. Her love would be here any minute. Tomorrow they were leaving first thing in the morning, and it would be even more frantic than it was right now. Ramona knew that Virgo was anxious about what they were doing, and despite Ramona’s reassurances, Virgo continued to fret over their upcoming trip.

While figuring out the details of what was going to happen, one major concern they had was that people might actually notice that Virgo was missing. Not many, but a few would, and that would be enough to start trouble and rumors. Virgo had pitched a cover story idea to Renae, who had gotten on board with it immediately and started spreading rumors. Now everyone thought that she was going back to her father’s old estate to take care of the place and possibly do some renovating, since it had most likely fallen to ruin.

Virgo’s mother heard this and had a fit, apparently. Ramona was glad that she wasn’t related to that woman, who seemed just as bad as her own mother, if not worse. She apparently threw a temper tantrum, but Renae just so  _ happened _ to be in the hallway outside where they had this conversation. The next day, rumors were leaked about an affair between Lady Storm and a lord from another kingdom. Oh wow how could that have happened? Virgo’s mother announced not long after that she was going to spend the rest of the season and all of next season in Janice’s father’s estate, which allowed Virgo freedom to do whatever she wanted until she returned.

Apparently Renae had really taken a liking to Stormy, and was totally willing to ruin her mother’s reputation for her, not that Ramona could blame her. Ramona smiled as she remembered the joy and relief on Virgo’s face as she recounted hearing about the elder Lady Storm’s plans.

Ramona quickly tucked the comb into the small box she was using to carry her jewelry during the trip. Right as she closed it, she felt the air in her room shift, the shadows crawling up the wall, and Virgo appeared a minute later.

“What are you doing?” She asked, walking up to Ramona and setting her chin on her shoulder.

“Just making sure I have all the jewelry I’m going to be using over the trip.” Ramona replied, lifting the box and setting it in her vanity drawer. She wanted to keep the comb a surprise. “Hello again, Stormcloud.”

“You’re really excited for this trip, aren’t you?” Virgo said, placing her hand over Ramona’s and smiling.

Ramona smiled back at her. “Yes, I am.” She said, only a little sheepish. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Sanders Empire. Or if I have, it was when I was too young to really remember it all that well. And a masquerade ball! I know it’s to celebrate my sister’s engagement, which no one is all that excited about, but a ball! The opportunity to show off my skills to the royal family of another kingdom is too great to pass up.”

Virgo laughed. “It’s cute. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so enthusiastic about something. The dresses are amazing. Although yours is a little… much, wouldn’t you say? Did you really have to be so extra?”

Ramona laughed. “My dear, have you even met me? Extra is my entire aesthetic.”

Virgo laughed and stepped back, grinning. “I suppose that is true.” She said playfully. “Why was I cursed to fall in love with such a dramatic, attention seeking princess? Woe is me!” She fell back onto Ramona’s bed, lifting the back of her hand to her forehead.

“Pfft. Seems like I’m not the only dramatic one here.” Ramona shot back. Virgo laughed and sat up, a playful little pout on her face. “Besides, you know you love it.” Ramona took Virgo’s hand and brought it up to her lips, kissing her knuckles gently. Virgo turned scarlet and pulled away, causing Ramona to giggle a bit.

“You’re really pretty when you blush.” She said, brushing a piece of Virgo’s hair out of her face. “Not that you aren’t pretty all the time, but the red always looks so cute against your snow-white skin.”

Virgo somehow turned even more red. “I’m really not.” She muttered.

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you  _ are. _ ”

“No I’m  _ not. _ ”

“You do realize I’m not going to stop until you admit that you’re pretty when you blush.” Ramona said, a gentle teasing smirk on her face. Virgo scowled at her, but Ramona didn’t budge, simply raising an eyebrow at her.

“...Fine. I’m pretty when I blush. Are you happy now?” She said petulantly, pouting adorably and crossing her arms over her chest. She huffed, attempting to blow a loose strand of her hair out of her face.

“Very, my love.” Ramona kissed Virgo’s hand again, and Virgo blushed again but didn’t move. There were a few moments of silence that wasn’t awkward, nor comfortable, but a weird gray area that Ramona was unsure of how to resolve.

Finally, Virgo pulled her hand out of Ramona’s and stood up, walking towards the glass doors to her balcony. “So.” She began, looking out into the darkness. “Tomorrow we’re leaving.”

Ramona nodded. “I’ve made plans for you to travel with Renae, Lola, Emily, and Pam. They’re all eager to help you out. I told them the basics of what’s going on with Janice, and they agreed to let you ride with them, since they’re going to be in their own carriage.”

Virgo’s eyes widened. Ramona realized a second too late what she had said, and quickly rushed to reassure her. “No no, it’s okay. We can trust them. You know Renae, she misses her gossip buddy. Apparently Janice was like- a huge source for her. And Lola and Janice were academic rivals, remember? The two of them like Janice too much to let anything happen to her, or her sister.”

Virgo furrowed her brow, still not entirely convinced, so Ramona continued. “Emily and Pamela are the sweetest people on the planet. You know they wouldn’t do something so malicious, I doubt they have it in themselves. It’ll be fine. They like you. Renae ruined your mother’s reputation for you. Just trust them.”

Virgo let out a breath, turning back to face Ramona. “Okay. I’ll try. It’s just hard to trust that they aren’t going to run straight to the king and queen and tell them what’s going on.”

“They don’t have much to gain from telling my parents.” Ramona offered. “Renae and Lola are already the most powerful they could possibly be here in court, their parents are close with mine and they’re close with me and my sister. Emily and Pamela are marrying into that, not even for the power, so on top of the fact that they’re going to become extremely influential, they don’t care. Beyond a little extra favor from my parents, which they wouldn’t want, there is nothing they could gain from telling them. Besides, if they wanted to tell them, they would have done so already. And believe me, if my parents knew, we wouldn’t still be going to the ball. They’d break off the engagement immediately, and possibly wage war on them. Neither of them know how to be subtle.”

Virgo chewed on her lower lip and took a deep breath “Okay. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry about that, I shouldn’t be this paranoid.” She offered a tired smile.

Ramona shook her head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. This whole ordeal is nerve wracking, and there is always the chance something will go wrong. You’re allowed to be anxious. I’m a little nervous myself.” She opened her arms, an invitation, and Virgo barely hesitated for a second before rushing into her, allowing Ramona to embrace her, and wrapping her arms around Ramona’s torso.

“It will be alright.” Ramona whispered.

“I know.”

~~~~~~

Pamela was excited. So was Emily. So was Renae, and even Lola, though she would never admit it. Pamela had admittedly never left the kingdom. She had explored what felt like every inch of the kingdom’s territory itself, since her family had traveled a lot when she was younger, but there was something so exciting about leaving her home kingdom for the first time to see the rest of the world. Even if it was only their neighboring kingdom, which she had heard was vastly different from theirs, it was still farther than she had ever gone before.

The dress Ramona had made her was beautiful, a light blue color, full skirt, and a bodice covered in white lace. White flowers and vines crawled up the skirt and decorated the fabric, and the loose off the shoulder sleeves as well as the light choices in fabric made the dress feel light and airy, almost like a cloud. She loved everything about it.

Lola’s gown was absolutely gorgeous as well. Her partner preferred simpler fashions, so hers was a deep and gorgeous shade of blue, with tiny crystals sewn into the skirt to mimic the night sky. The waist featured a jeweled belt, and since it ended up being sleeveless, Ramona had made a shawl for her to cover her shoulders, embroidered with real constellations using silver thread.

It was the morning that they were scheduled to leave, and Pamela’s stomach was full of butterflies. She was excited, but also a little nervous. She knew she shouldn’t really be, but she was. She had said goodbye to her parents and had finished packing all of her stuff, which was now loaded onto the back of the carriage, and now she was waiting outside with Lola, waiting on the others.

“What’s taking them so long?” Lola grumbled, huffing in irritation. “Honestly Renae, I know you like to sleep in but we have to leave soon! You’re going to get left behind!”

“Be patient with her, it is really early.” Pamela said.

“I hardly think seven in the morning is early.” Lola scoffed indignantly.

“If seven isn’t early for you, then I don’t think I want to find out what you  _ do  _ consider ‘early.’” Pamela joked, smiling at her partner. Lola’s grumpy expression lasted an impressive eight seconds before melting into a smile and laughing a bit.

“I know. I’m simply… anxious.” Lola responded shaking her head. The two of them went back to silence for a few more minutes, waiting for the others they were traveling with to arrive.

Finally, right when Lola seemed on the verge of going back into the castle to search for her sister herself, Renae and Emily stepped out, dressed simply but cleanly, with a smaller figure dressed in a hooded cloak following her. Renae had her signature shaded glasses on, despite the fact that it was only just barely past sunrise, and there was no need for it.

Lola sighed as the three figures approached them, a scornful look on her face. “About time you showed up. I don’t understand how you could possibly take so long to get ready! I was worried that we were going to have to leave you behind!”

Renae smiled cheekily at her sister. “Aww, you were worried about us?” She said teasingly. Lola sent her a death glare which reminded Pamela of “if looks could kill.” “Sorry, but we had to finalize the details of the cover story for this one.” She jerked her head at the third figure, whose hood was drawn up so that it concealed most of her features.

“Hey kiddo!” Pamela said, smiling and waving. “Welcome to the group!” Virgo looked up and offered a hesitant smile in return, clearly uncomfortable being around people she didn’t know very well. The cloak she was wearing really should have been attention drawing, yet it wasn’t. Not a single person had looked their way while she was walking with them.

“Alright, so the story is she’s my new lady-in-waiting, and we’re bringing her along. If anyone asks, that’s what we say to them. Dark-and-Stormy here has promised me that she won’t draw attention to herself, and she does seem good and blending into the background, so we should be okay.” Renae explained. Emily sent Virgo a comforting smile, who offered a thumbs up in response.

“Isn’t it possible that someone will recognize her?” Pamela asked, furrowing her brow.

Virgo shook her head. “No one will recognize me. I’ll keep my distance from everyone, and besides, the only people who know me well enough to recognize me already know I’m here.” The young lady offered a smile, straightening up a little bit. She was brave, doing this. Of course, if Pamela had a sibling whom she had been separated from for months, she supposed she would have done anything to see them again as well.

“Well then.” Lola said, her face softening a bit. She now wore an amused expression, and turned to face the carriages. “Let’s get in, shall we? The sooner we are all set, the sooner we can leave.” She climbed inside. From where she was standing, Pamela could tell that the curtains of the windows were drawn, blocking anyone from looking in on them. The inside was plush, and there was plenty of room for the five of them.

Lola offered her hand to Pamela, and helped her into the carriage when she took it. She took her seat, and leaned back, allowing herself a moment to take everything in. An excited smile started spreading across her face as Emily and Renae also climbed in. They sat on the seat across from Pamela and Lola, and Pam turned her head to see Virgo staring off to the side at something, looking slightly red.

“You coming kiddo?” Pamela asked, seeming to startle Virgo out of whatever trance she had been in.

“O-oh, um, yeah. Sorry.” She quickly climbed into the carriage and shut the door behind her, looking a bit embarrassed.

“What were you staring at?” Renae asked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hand. Her face wore a knowing and smug smirk on her face.

“Uh…” Virgo’s face turned bright red, and she swallowed, taking a seat next to Pamela, who offered her a bright smile. “It’s nothing.”

“Was it Ramona?” Lola asked, turning her head to face her instead of peeking out of the curtain, her expression one of genuine curiosity.

“No!” Virgo said, her blush deepening. “It was nothing.” She leaned back. Pamela lifted a hand to pat her arm in comfort, but saw how the younger lady curled away from it, so she set it back in her lap, instead offering her another smile.

“We should be leaving soon.” Emily said, changing the topic. “It’s very exciting. I’ve only left the kingdom once in my life to visit friends of my mother’s, and that was out in the countryside. It’ll be very interesting to see the palace of another kingdom. I wonder how different it will be.” She smiled at Virgo. “Have you ever left the kingdom before?”

Virgo seemed to consider her for a second before answering her question. “...No. I’ve never really traveled anywhere. Never even seen much of my own home kingdom. I’ve seen the castle, my father’s estate, like two villages, and that’s it. But my father used to love traveling. He stopped when I was born, but he used to show me a lot of his souvenirs from different kingdoms. His favorite was a telescope from an astronomy university, and we used to use it to observe the stars together. My personal favorite was a shell he collected at a beach in the Sanders Empire. It was really pretty, he called it an abalone seashell. It was iridescent and mostly white but it had a bunch of different colors too. He said the weather in the Sanders Empire was always warm and sunny, very tropical, but there could be some serious rainstorms in the summer.” She stopped suddenly, looking down at her hands, her mood suddenly somber again.

“That’s really cool!” Pamela said, hoping to lighten things up a bit. Virgo had been opening up to them, but now she seemed to clam (ha) up at the memories of her father. Everyone knew what happened to Lord Storm, it had been quite shocking to hear that he had been arrested for not only treason, but using dark magic as well. Pamela wondered if Virgo had known about it before he was caught.

“I’ve been all over the kingdom, but I’ve never been outside of it. So this will be a first for both of us.” She continued, shaking off these thoughts. Virgo smiled a little at that, though it was still shy. 

Suddenly, the carriage jolted, and then they were moving. Lola slipped her hand into Pamela’s, and Pamela squeezed it, smiling softly. She felt her excitement and nervousness grow all at once, and bit her lower lip to stop herself from squealing. This was going to be an interesting trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in case it wasn't clear, I was trying to imply that Virgo did cast a glamor on her cloak so that people wouldn't pay attention to her while wearing it.
> 
> If you are wondering what Virgo's comb looks like, this is an image I found on google that I really liked. I thought it suited our favorite emo so I thought "Yeah, let me work this into the story somehow"
> 
> https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~6kAAOSwEmFaspRA/s-l400.jpg
> 
> If it doesn't work for you guys let me know :) Again I found this on google images, this isn't mine.
> 
> I'll post the image addresses for the dresses I found for each of the girls after the masquerade ball scene. I'll probably make a separate work for it.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgo meets someone new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Literally like one curse word, and a few mentions of being executed. Nothing too serious, this chapter is pretty light hearted.

Virgo was excited. And nervous. And so many different emotions it was hard to keep them all straight. They were less than a day away from the palace of the Sanders Empire, and her anxiety would not leave her alone. It wasn’t even one thing in particular that she was anxious about, it was just a feeling that everything was about to go wrong. She and Ramona hadn’t been able to see each other over the week they’d been traveling, because doing so could raise suspicion, and without her there, her thoughts were starting to get out of control. The others had been nice to her, and done their best to calm her down, but in the end they hadn’t really been able to do much.

She was fairly certain the Sanders family already knew she was coming. Ramona had mentioned it once or twice offhandedly that she and Rema had informed Ethan she would be coming along. The idea that foreign royalty knew she was here but not her own kingdom’s royal family was an odd one, one that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with. Some small part of her said it was a trick, even though going through these lengths to trick her was impractical and implausible. 

Right now, she was still in the carriage, which was starting to feel a little cramped after spending so many days in it. The palace was starting to rise in the distance, as she had seen the last time she risked a glimpse out of the curtains, so they couldn’t be more than a few more hours out. Which was terrifying, but also exhilarating. She was only a few hours away from reuniting with her sister, and getting to see another kingdom for the first time.

“It’ll be alright you know.” Pamela said out of nowhere, causing her to jump at the sudden voice after a stretch of silence. “I’m sure everything will work out, you know?” Virgo nodded mutely, and Lola cleared her throat, drawing their attention..

“What Pamela says is indeed likely. I do not imagine Ramona would have asked you to come on this trip if she weren’t absolutely certain things would work out.” She offered a smile that looked a bit awkward, but no less genuine. “She can be reckless and impulsive at times, but when it comes to the people she cares about, she takes it upon herself to be of the utmost certainty that everything will be perfect.”

Virgo appreciated their attempts, but politely did not bring up the fact that this was a completely new situation for all of them in which everything could easily go very wrong. There were too many unpredictable factors, and that in and of itself presented a risk. No amount of careful planning could make the thing they were doing completely safe.

“Thank you.” She said, hunching her shoulders in. “I’m just worried for no reason.” She hoped that would be the end of it, but the girls wouldn’t let it go that easily.

Renae laughed. “Gurl please, you have plenty to be worried about. But we’re here to make sure y’all pull this off without a hitch, and if that means breaking a few laws, or bones to do so, then so be it.” Virgo snorted, and Renae looked pleased with herself. They lapsed into silence, and eventually Virgo started to relax. This would be okay. She only had to wait a few more hours, and then she’d be whole again. She’d have everyone she ever loved right in one place.

...Well, at least those that were still alive anyway.

She shook off the thought as quickly as it had come. She should just focus on the present, not dwell on the past. This was supposed to be a happy day, she shouldn’t get bogged down by bad memories.

As if summoned by the very thought, her father’s face flashed before her eyes against her will. His different facial expressions from over the years that had been burned into her memory, one way or the other. The surprise in his eyes when his plot that had been nearly eight years prior had been discovered. The fear on his face when during his “trial” guards burst in holding Virgo’s grimoire. The softness in his expression when she had visited him in the dungeons, begging him to take it back, to tell the truth because he was going to die and it would be her fault, the acceptance as he was led to his execution, and the love and adoration he stared at Virgo with even when he was seconds from death. 

_ “I love you.” _ Those had been his final words. No one had heard them except for Virgo, because no one else was meant to hear them. She wouldn’t have heard him if she hadn’t seen the movement of his mouth, the familiar syllables she was so used to seeing and hearing but would never again see or hear. He looked her directly in the eye as he said them. There was no mistaking who he could have been looking at. She wasn’t sure if anyone else had noticed, but that gaze still haunted her dreams.

His voice was one of the many she heard in her head, but instead of putting her down or exacerbating her anxiety, he soothed her. She always thought about what he would say, what he would do in a situation, what advice he would offer. Sometimes she could picture him, walking through the gardens with a younger version of Virgo, talking about inconsequential things and pretending that everything was perfect.

Other times he was sitting on her bed or in her chair, and she would have a conversation with him despite knowing that there was no way he was real. She could almost feel him wrap his arms around her at times. 

Virgo frowned and pushed those memories away, willing them not to come back. She had zoned out for who knows how long, and after glancing out the curtains again, she could see that they were approaching the palace. From the outside, it was gorgeous. Built of marble instead of stone like theirs, it was mainly a collection of towers that stretched higher than she imagined the castle back home did, or really any palace ever. But what did she know? She didn’t exactly have a whole lot of experience here. It was also on a cliff face, a fact that only made Virgo panic a little. Just a little.

She quickly stood up, causing the others to startle and give her questioning looks, but she simply reached into the overhead storage area where their smaller luggage had been stored, things like hygiene products and jewelry, and grabbed her cloak. The others relaxed as she wrapped it around her shoulders and went back to focusing on other things. Virgo sat back down and played with the clasp.

The glamor she had casted on the cloak had proven to be worth her time. For some reason she didn’t quite know, she had never been able to do complicated glamors. According to a couple of books she had read, there were glamors so complicated and powerful they could change a person’s entire appearance. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to do those.

But the glamor on the cloak was a simple one, and all it did was make people’s attention naturally shift away from her. Maybe she should have tried this sooner, perhaps she could have stopped the rumors or at the very least kept people’s attention off of her, but she hadn’t been sure it would work, and she was too scared up until this point to try. Failing to properly cast a glamor would lead to someone being able to recognize what it was, and that possibility was too scary for her to think about.

Their carriage started slowing, and Lola carefully peeked out the curtain drawn across the windows, taking longer than Virgo had allowed herself to. After all, she wasn’t the one who feared discovery.

“We’ve entered through the gates and are pulling up on the front entrance now.” She narrated. “It looks like the entire royal family is out there to greet us, though I’m surprised they didn’t make a big spectacle of our arrival like we did theirs.” 

“Great.” Virgo said, swallowing. On the one hand, less people was probably good for her, but the idea of facing the entire royal family, even if they wouldn’t be paying attention to her, was unnerving to say the least. Emily could clearly hear the nerves in her voice and shot her a sympathetic look. She tried to smile back, but had a feeling that it wasn’t really convincing.

As the carriage fully slowed to a stop, Virgo could hear her heart pounding. It was so loud that if she didn’t know better she would have thought everyone else could hear it as well. She began tapping out a breathing cycle on her thigh, counting in her head and trying to keep her breathing steady. The carriage door opened and all the girls stepped out, Pamela throwing an encouraging smile over her shoulder.

Cautiously, exited the carriage as well, not really sure what to expect. It seemed that Lola was right, the entire royal family had come out to meet them. A man and woman in their early thirties stood in front, presumably the new king and queen, with a small boy probably not over seven or eight clinging to the woman’s skirt. Virgo smiled slightly. He was cute.

Just behind them was the former king, looking even more regal than he had from the few glimpses she had seen of him back when he was at their palace. Next to the former king were two other men in their mid-twenties, probably about the same age as Lola actually, who looked like twins. Virgo had to stop herself from giggling at the thought that both of their kingdoms had twin royalty.

Then there was the prince Ethan, who she recognized from seeing him with Rema, standing on the other side of his father, and standing a bit more off to the side, almost blending into the background, was a girl. For some reason that Virgo didn’t immediately realize, her eyes stuck on her.

She was a couple years younger than Virgo, maybe seventeen or eighteen? She had a rosy complexion and a soft face shape. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a braided bun, and she wore a creamy orange dress with a shapeless skirt that stretched to the floor and puffy translucent sleeves. She didn’t have much jewelry on, only a simple tiara with a white opal in the center which gave away her position as a princess, a solid black choker, and a pair of stud earrings.

Something about her was really attention grabbing, but it took her a second to realize why. She was  _ glowing. _ At first Virgo thought it was just the way the light reflected off of her, but no, it was an actual glow. Opalescent and shiny, there was no mistaking it for what it was. She had an aura. She was magic, just like her. And she was staring directly at Virgo.

Virgo froze, wondering if she was going to say something. A distinct and memorable grin that could have really meant anything spread across the girl’s face, and she started walking towards her brothers. Oh god, was she going to expose Virgo here and now? If she did, it would be the end of her.

She turned back to the king, allowing the meaningless conversation between the monarchs to filter back into her brain. The new king was speaking, having seemingly introduced everyone else and was now attempting to wrap up the conversation.

“And of course the celebration has been entirely planned out and the only preparations left are last minute details. It is an honor to have you here, and we…” The princess tugged on the king’s sleeve, and he trailed off. “Oh of course. Your Majesties, this is my sister, Princess Thomasina Foley Sanders.”

“I go by Tamsin.” The princess said in a voice that was infused with so much honey it had to be fake. She smiled sweetly, but Virgo could see disgust brimming in her eyes.

The queen smiled thinly. “A pleasure, Princess Tamsin.” She turned back to the new king. “Thank you for having us. I’m sure we have much to discuss, but let’s not stand out here any longer. I’m sure we’ll all be much more comfortable inside.” With that, the royal couple strode past the new king, and the others followed them. 

Virgo started to move after them, but noticed that the princess was still looking at her. It was… kind of unnerving that she was able to do that, considering the glamor was supposed to protect against it. But then again, she had never come across another magic user. Maybe glamors didn’t work on them. 

The princess walked up to her and gave her a smile, different from the one she had given the royals a few moments ago. This one was genuine, and full of sunshine.

“I didn’t know there were going to be any magic users in the entourage.” She said, her voice filled with amusement. Virgo tensed and looked around at the servants who were rushing to gather the luggage from the carriages, looking to see if anyone had heard her. The princess laughed. “You don’t need to worry, they won’t pay us any attention thanks to your glamor. Nice touch, by the way. Honestly, Janice has told me a lot about you, but it seems she left out one crucial detail in her stories.” 

Virgo’s breath caught at her sister’s name. Of course the princess would know who she was immediately. It was kind of obvious, now that she thought about it. She was honestly surprised that even with the glamor she had made it this far. 

“Uh… hello Your Highness.” She said uncertainly. The princess’s lips twisted into a frown, and Virgo felt her panic increase tenfold. Four words in and she had already said something wrong.

“Please don’t call me that. Literally no one calls me by my title unless we’re out doing ‘official business,’ and it’s just the two of us now. Just call me Tamsin.” She held out her hand, and Virgo hesitantly shook it. This was a very odd interaction. The princes- Tamsin was the most laid back royalty she’d ever met. “It’s nice to meet you. Lyal and Daniella are going to be keeping the royal family occupied for the next few hours, so I figured I could take the time to help you settle in while they’re distracted.”

“Um… yeah okay.” Virgo wasn’t sure how she felt about spending time with a complete stranger, but Tamsin seemed nice. She also had magic, just like Virgo, and surely that had to count for something?

“Great!” Tamsin clapped her hands together once, her smile never leaving her face. “I can show you the rest of the castle and then we can pick up your stuff from Ramona’s room.” Virgo smiled a bit. She had packed her stuff with Ramona’s, who usually packed more than necessary on these trips anyway, to avoid suspicion. Maybe it was unnecessary, but it was better safe than sorry.

Tamsin started striding down the hallway, surprisingly fast for someone who was the same height as Virgo (who is 4’11 by the way), maybe an inch or two shorter, and Virgo followed after her. She knew she could probably take off the cloak now, the only people who had come along were the Paynes and the royal family, so aside from the king and queen, there was no one she needed to hide from. She already spent most of her time avoiding the royal couple, so there was really nothing she needed to worry about. Yet she still pulled her cloak tighter around her. She’d take it off in her room, but she felt safer wearing it. Even though she was perfectly safe now, she just couldn’t shake off her anxiety.

They originally started off in silence, with Tamsin just humming as she skipped through the halls, but she seemed to notice Virgo’s nervous behavior. “So… what are your favorite places to visit in your castle?” She asked, slowing down a bit. “Mine is probably the library. And the kitchen. I can’t cook for shit on my own, but it smells really good and sometimes one of the chefs will let me help them with a dish if I’m careful.” She laughed lightly.

Virgo startled, not prepared for the question. It took her a moment to actually process it and collect her thoughts enough to answer. “I like the gardens.” She said quietly. “My dad and I would hang out there all the time when I was a little girl, and flowers remind me of him.” She realized too late that she was thinking about her father again. Goddamnit, why couldn’t she get him off her mind?

Tamsin smiled. “That’s cool! Oh wait, come with me. The gardens here are absolutely gorgeous and the gardeners let me have my own little corner where I grow stuff for potions. You’ll love it, come on!” She started running down the hall, and Virgo followed after her at a slower pace, unsure if running through the halls of someone else’s palace was a good idea.

Virgo turned the corner just in time to see Tamsin crash into a servant, sending them both the ground and causing the basket in the servant’s arms to fly into the air and scatter the clothing inside of it.

She winced on behalf of the servant, hoping that she would be okay. Royals didn’t usually take well to this kind of thing, Virgo had seen things like this happen before. She remembered watching a maid get screamed at by the queen a couple years ago for spilling a bucket of water on the floor. The maid had been fired, but Virgo still thought about that sometimes.

She wasn’t sure if Tamsin would be that way, she didn’t seem like she would be, but first impressions weren’t always correct and-

“Lana! Oh god, I’m so sorry!” Tamsin burst out, quickly scrambling to her feet and helping the servant gather up the clothing to put back in the basket. “I should have been paying more attention. Are you okay?” 

Lana smiled and picked the basket back up, shifting it so that it was hanging from one arm. “It’s alright, Tammy. It’s only dirty laundry, you’re fine. Just be more careful next time, okay?” She ruffled Tamsin’s hair, and continued down the hall.

Virgo blinked, unable to process what she just saw. The servant - Lana had just called the princess by her first name, not only that but used a nickname, and ruffled her hair. Not to mention the general casual tone she took on while speaking to her. Back at her palace, that could have been considered insubordination. But Tamsin didn’t even look offended. She was smiling just as brightly as she had been a few minutes ago, although now her cheeks were slightly red.

“Well… that’s embarrassing.” She laughed, rubbing the back of her head. “Not exactly the kind of first impression I wanted to give you.” 

There were so many thoughts swirling around in Virgo’s head right now. She was so confused, but when she opened her mouth to voice these questions, none of them came out. “Are you always that clumsy?” She snarked. Immediately, she slapped her hand over her mouth, horrified. Where had that come from? 

But Tamsin burst out laughing. “Unfortunately, yes. My brothers never leave me alone about it. You know one time I was at a party and tripped over my own skirt? I spilled my drink on a dignitary from another kingdom and Dolos and Dorian  _ still _ won’t let it go. Not to mention, they won’t let me climb ladders anymore without someone there to watch me ever since an incident in the library  _ five years ago. _ ” Virgo laughed, a genuine smile breaking across her face. Okay, yeah, she liked Tamsin.

“You knew Lana by her name.” She said, curiosity in her voice as she tilted her head to the side.

Tamsin shrugged. “Yeah, I kind of take it upon myself to know all of the castle staff’s names and get to know them at least a little bit.”

“That… seems like a lot of names to memorize. How do you even manage it?”

“Eh, it’s not as hard as it sounds.” She smiled, and kept walking. “They trust me a lot, and since they know just how much I love pulling pranks on my brothers, many of them go out of their way to help me. They’ve all developed excellent poker faces from trying not to laugh while waiting for a trap to spring.”

“...What kind of pranks?” Virgo asked cautiously, another laugh bubbling in the back of her throat.

“The magic kind.” Tamsin replied, a mischievous look in her eyes. She leaned in close and cupped her hand like she was about to tell Virgo a secret. “I once put a potion in Lyal’s food that made it so he could only talk in Latin for three hours straight.”

Virgo couldn’t help herself. She burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Tamsin was looking absolutely delighted that she made Virgo actually loosen up, and it took a good thirty seconds for both of them to regain their composure.

“Alright then.” She said, still kind of out of breath and fighting the urge to start laughing again. “You said you wanted to show me your garden?”

Tamsin was right. The gardens were beautiful. She had greeted the gardeners and introduced Virgo to each of them individually, walking her around the place and talking about all the different flowers. She was even more knowledgeable about them than Virgo was.

Tamsin’s own part of the garden was full of plants that most definitely should not have been able to grow in the tropical environment. Exotic flowers that she had never even heard of, herbs and spices that were considered very rare among kingdoms, and a few enormous trees she had apparently grown from seeds and magic in less than six months. All of them bore fruit she had never known existed, but were absolutely delicious.

They must have spent hours in the garden, but eventually they had gone to pick up Virgo’s stuff and move it from Ramona’s room to hers.

After spending so many years living in a room with no windows at all, the room she was led to in the palace was a bit of a shock. It was bigger than her room back home, or maybe it just felt that way because of how big the windows were. So much natural light flooded in, and everything looked shiny and ethereal. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought this room was carved out of pure magic.

Almost immediately, she walked over to the windows and pulled the curtains shut. They didn’t do much to keep the light from filtering in, but it gave her a small sense of relief knowing that no one could look in on her now, even though the windows were facing the cliff. Tamsin helped her unpack all of her stuff, helping her fill the closet with her outfits so they didn’t get wrinkled in the trunk.

“Geez, do you own anything that isn’t black and made of heavy fabric? You’re going to sweat to death in these here.” She commented, holding up a dress.

“Shut up.” Virgo mumbled. “Heavy clothes make me feel secure.”

“Suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The princess had replied as she hung another article of clothing up. Tamsin stood off to the side as Virgo explored every inch of the room, and eventually they both sat down on the bed, which had a comforter fluffier than anyone she had ever felt. 

“Do you want to see Janice now?” Tamsin asked. “She and Rema have probably finished up… doing whatever it is they do. I know she’s been really worried about you, she wouldn't stop talking about it. She was worried about how you would take her leaving, worried how her disappearance might affect you, worried about how your relationship with Ramona was going. I imagine she’s been told that you’re here by now. She’s probably really excited.”

“I…” Virgo knew that she should probably feel giddy and full of excitement at the prospect of seeing her sister again. And it wasn’t that she wasn’t excited, but… so much had changed in the few months they’d been apart. Who knows how much Janice had changed as well? “Yes.” She said, looking over at Tamsin and feeling something akin to butterflies in her stomach. It was a feeling that was unplaceable but felt like a mix of anxiety and adrenaline. “I’d love that.” 

“I’ll go get her.” Tamsin leapt to her feet and waltzed out the door, leaving Virgo to her thoughts. Bad idea, really. Part of her started spiralling, but it was easy enough to quell. She bounced her leg impatiently, wondering how long it was going to take. With each passing moment, the unnamable feeling in her chest grew, until it was practically consuming her.

After what felt like hours, but in reality couldn’t have been more than a couple minutes, the door opened once more. Tamsin entered, a huge grin on her face. Then another person stepped into the room. One she had thought she was never going to see again. Virgo jolted to her feet, eyes widening and vision blurring. The person was staring at her as if she were a ghost, and Virgo had a feeling she was doing the same. It almost felt like they were just ghosts, with how long they’d been apart. And then she rushed forward, crashing into her sister’s arms.

“Janice!” She cried, her voice strangled. The feeling in her chest broke, and she felt herself sobbing, feeling Janice’s arms wrap around her and embrace her tightly. She felt something drip onto her head and knew that her sister was crying just as hard as she was, though probably trying to hide it.

“Hey Stormy.” Janice said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I see someone missed me.”

“Shut up.” Virgo said wetly. “Get over yourself, will you?” Both of their jokes seemed to fall a bit flat considering the situation, but neither of them particularly cared at the moment. This was the moment Virgo had never even let herself hope for, never even considered a possibility, because she wouldn’t give herself false hope. Janice was the only thing she thought about every time she was in her bed, looking up at the ceiling and trying to fall asleep. There was so much she wanted to say and do in that moment, and yet she said none of it. This, being right here, right now, with her sister, was everything she needed.

“So.” Her sister said, her voice still thick with emotions. “We must have a lot to catch up on.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Thomas severely ooc? Yes. Do I give a crap? Absolutely not.
> 
> Pranks were like a big thing, and still are(?) for him, so I figured, yeah, let's make his female counterpart an absolute little shit who loves causing chaos.
> 
> Honestly Tamsin is my child. I love her so much and would die for her. She's going to bring out a much more confident and reckless side of Virgo, and when she inevitably starts teaching Virgo about her magic and ropes her into her little plots, the two of them are going to be unstoppable. No one will be safe.
> 
> Also I said it before and I'll say it again: For the brothers' names I literally chose names that we used for Janus before his name reveal because there were SO MANY and honestly I think that concept is hilarious. Am I funny? Probably not. But I like to tell myself I am anyway :D
> 
> <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgo gets a healthy mother figure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mentions of past verbal and physical abuse (it's not that bad but I'm still gonna put it here), copious amounts of fluff and soft moments

A few days later, Virgo found herself alone in the gardens on a bright and sunny day. Ramona was off doing something with her parents, Tamsin was at a planning session for the final details of the masquerade, and Janice was probably making out with Rema, so that left her by herself. It was only two days before the masquerade, and she found herself full of nervous energy with each passing day. The gown Ramona had made her was definitely not her usual style, but she loved it nonetheless. 

The princess had taken time out of her day to create it for her and she appreciated it. And… she did like how it looked, not that she’d admit it to anyone. She had a reputation to keep up! If she wore anything lighter than dark purple and admitted to  _ liking _ it, her sister would never let her hear the end of it!

Speaking of her sister, gods, wasn’t it just amazing to be able to say those things again. Those offhanded, sarcastic comments about Janice, knowing that she wasn’t in danger, that she was here, she was safe, and she was okay. It had been a long few months without her, but they were finally over. Sometimes it still didn’t feel real. Virgo would go to bed half convinced that she was dreaming, and tomorrow she would wake up back in her home kingdom, and nothing would have changed.

But every single time, she woke up here, and it truly felt amazing. She loved every part of it.

Virgo was walking along a path, and stopped to brush her hand against the petals of a flower. She didn’t recognize it, it wasn’t grown in her kingdom, but it was a very lovely color. It was a deep red and reminded her of Ramona. She wondered if she was allowed to take the flowers, she wasn’t back home, and she wasn’t going to chance it regardless, but everyone here seemed much more laid back, so it did make her wonder. 

She heard giggling coming from down the path, and looked up to see the young prince, Damien, she was pretty sure, running at full speed. He was wearing a yellow dress that went down to his knees, and laughing like he hadn’t a care in the world. He probably didn’t. Ah, the carefree innocence of children. Behind him, his mother, Queen Daniella, was also laughing and following him at a much slower speed, trying to tell him to slow down.

Virgo hesitated at the sight. The young prince was headed straight for her, so she probably should get out of the way before he- oh nevermind. Damien crashed into her, and made her stumble back. He didn’t actually hit her that hard, he was too small to be able to do that, but the surprise in and of itself almost made Virgo fall back.

“Oh- um… sorry.” The tiny prince said, peering up at her with wide eyes. Despite herself, Virgo’s heart melted.

“It’s okay.” She told him. She smiled gently, and he smiled back, the joy in his eyes not diminished in the slightest. The queen came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently lowering herself to his eye level.

“You really need to be more careful, Damien.” She gently chastised him. “Why don’t you go find your father? He should be in his study. I need to speak to Lady Virgo here.” Her eyes were filled with amusement. The little prince nodded happily and ran off in the opposite direction, presumably to find the king.

Despite the queen’s lighthearted tone, her very words turned Virgo’s blood to ice. Oh god, what did she want with Virgo? Was she going to get chewed out for not getting out of the prince’s way in time? Did the queen know about her magic? Was she going to out her to the other royals? The entire court? Her thoughts began spiralling as they typically did and soon she had arrived at the conclusion that she was going to die here. Great.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while now.” The queen said, standing back up. “But I didn’t want to interrupt when you were spending time with your sister or with Princess Ramona. Walk with me.” She began walking down the path and motioned for Virgo to follow her. Virgo slowly started after her, still feeling apprehensive. She hadn’t actually seen much of Ramona the past few days, she was really busy, so there hadn’t been much time for the two of them. There were a few minutes of silence, where Virgo fidgeted with the fabric of her clothing and chewed on her bottom lip, trying to gage what the queen was doing.

Finally, after a stretch of time, the queen spoke up. “The gardens are lovely, aren’t they?” Her tone was still light, not a hint of danger, but Virgo was still apprehensive.

“They- they are.” She said carefully. Tamsin had told her that no one in her family cared about whether or not they were referred to by their titles, but Virgo wasn’t taking any chances when it came to the queen.

“They’re one of my favorite places to hang out. Yours too, I’m guessing?” She smiled warmly. Virgo nodded shyly. “I’ve seen you here a lot.”

“Oh uh- I didn’t know you saw me. S-sorry.” She wasn’t even sure what she was apologizing for, but it was better to cover her bases. Her shoulders were tense, and she tried to relax them so as not to appear as scared as she actually was. 

“Nothing to apologize for, my dear.” The queen said, the motherly smile never leaving her face. After a few moments, however, it dimmed slightly, and Virgo found herself shifting from foot to foot. “You’re nervous around me.”

It wasn’t a question. The statement only made Virgo even more tense, if that were even possible, because she  _ was _ nervous, but it would be rude to actually admit it out loud, so what was she supposed to say?

“It’s okay to be nervous.” The queen spoke softly, as if she had read Virgo’s mind. “Being in the presence of an authoritative figure when you’ve been trapped under the thumb of authority all your life is intimidating.” 

Virgo’s head snapped up, before she quickly looked back down and avoided eye contact. “How did you-”

The queen sighed. “It seems that your king and queen are not very kind to their subjects, or even to their own daughters. And your court does not seem as friendly as ours. Janice has told me a lot about you, sometimes it felt like you were all she wanted to talk about, but she never said anything about your home life. I think she was afraid of giving something away that you didn’t want other people to know. But her hesitance to reveal your relationships with your family in and of itself reveals something.”

She looked down at Virgo, no disdain, no disgust, nothing that indicated she didn’t want to be here. Just genuine sincerity. “Tell me, Virgo. Is there something going on in your family life? This is between the two of us, I swear on my life that anything you say to me will never leave my lips.” 

“I… um…” Virgo hesitated. Was this something she wanted to talk about right now? She didn’t know the queen at all, this was her first time speaking. But the queen did seem really kind, and she hadn’t been mad at Virgo for not getting out of her son’s way, so maybe? ...Wow her bar for human interaction was low.

So she wasn’t sure of the answer, but she wouldn’t know what to think until she started talking about it, so… She took a deep breath.

“Well, yeah. It’s fairly common knowledge that my mother isn’t exactly doting. She spends more time making bedroom eyes at every other lord in the court than she does paying attention to me, which is probably for the best. Her husband doesn’t care, he does the same thing to the ladies in court. She… yells at me. A lot. I’m not the daughter she wanted, and it shows. I look too much like my father, in her opinion. She’s always angry, and I can never seem to do anything right in her eyes.” Tears began welling up in her eyes as she remembered her mother’s disdain. Saying it all out loud really made her realize just how much her mother hated her. Like before now she hadn’t even fully comprehended it. “I don’t even know what I did, other than exist the way I am. She just hates me for no reason and I-”

Virgo sucked in a sharp breath, unable to continue. Tears were coming down now, there was nothing holding them back, and she began to break down crying. God, she was such an idiot! Falling apart in front of the queen of another kingdom? How had her life come to this?

“Shhh, shhh it’s alright, my dear.” The queen said calmly. “May I touch you?” She held out a hand, but retracted it when Virgo shook her head. She didn’t want to know what would happen if someone she was unfamiliar with tried to touch her in a state like this. “Okay, that’s alright. Come sit down, dear.” The queen moved over to a bench and patted the seat next to her. Virgo walked over to it, gripping her forearms tightly, and sat down, still not meeting the queen’s eyes.

“I-I’m sorry. I- I didn’t me-an to f-fall ap-art on you.” Virgo said, her voice still shaky and thick with emotions. 

“It’s okay. I understand that this might not be the easiest thing to talk about. I’m sorry I asked that question in the first place, what goes on in your life is your business, and I have no right to get involved.” The queen was looking at her with such intense sadness, like she wanted to embrace Virgo but was holding herself back, and Virgo didn’t even know what for. But she… apologized? To Virgo? She’d never heard a queen apologize before.

“It- it’s okay.” Virgo said, wiping her tears away. “It was… nice to talk about it.” With someone who wasn’t Janice, her brain added, but she didn’t say that out loud. She knew she could always talk to Janice about these kinds of things, but Janice was dealing with a parent just as shitty as Virgo’s mother. It never felt right to complain to her about it when she was dealing with the same thing. 

“Your mother…” The queen continued. “Did she ever… hurt you? Physically, I mean. You don’t have to answer if it’s too much.” The queen rested her hand right next to Virgo’s, so they were as close without touching as they could be.

“Once.” Virgo said, shuddering as she remembered that day. “And then never again.” That was one of the worst memories she had. So much had happened that day and she had never truly processed it. She had a feeling that if she did, it would overwhelm her.

“I see.” The queen’s tone was neutral, not a hint of emotion to betray what she was thinking. Her face was thoughtful, but behind the calm exterior, Virgo could see the rage in her eyes. “Thank you for telling me this, my dear. I promise that I won’t share this with anyone without your express permission first.” 

They switched to more comfortable topics after that. The queen, who told Virgo she could call her Daniella, began trying to coax Virgo out of her shell with talks about interests, hobbies, books, and all manner of things. They began discussing events in their lives, like the upcoming masquerade and how their relationships were going. 

Daniella told her all about her story, how she met Lyal, and how quickly they fell in love with one another.

Daniella had been the princess of another kingdom, one whose relationship with the Sanders Empire had been tenuous at best, and the two of them had met when Lyal attended her older sister’s coronation. The two of them had become fast friends, and it was a disappointment when he had to return home. Then when Lyal became of age to marry, Daniella became one of his suitor prospects.

Immediately he began to favor her, as the rocky relationship would be strengthened by a marriage, and if nothing else, they were on friendly terms. But then their feelings began to develop into something else, and now here they were.

“I know that not every relationship goes as smoothly as ours did.” Daniella sighed mournfully. “We got extremely lucky that we were already friends, and that we were able to fall in love with one another. Not many queens get to marry for love, my sister ended up marrying for advantage. I know she’s jealous of me, and I don’t blame her. We aren’t on the best terms, haven’t spoken in years, but I’m hoping that will change one day.” She smiled at Virgo. “Your relationship with your sister makes me incredibly happy. I’m glad to know that you have a source of unconditional love and support, it’s one of the most important things a lady needs.”

They talked for hours, and by the time they were finished, the sun was beginning to set. Daniella quickly said goodbye and hoped that they could talk again sometime, and left to join her family for dinner. So now Virgo was alone once more. 

She stood up quickly and smoothed out her skirts. As she made her way back inside the palace, she wondered what this warm feeling inside of her was. Daniella certainly was motherly, and she acted like Virgo had seen other mothers act towards their children. Wait- did she just get adopted by the queen of the Sanders Empire? Huh.

She wasn’t quite sure where she was going, after this realization that she had just gotten mommed by one of the most powerful people in the kingdom, she was just wandering around aimlessly, unsure of what to make of this. Then she bumped into someone very familiar, and the thought was pushed out of her mind. Temporarily.

“Stormcloud!” Ramona exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face. “I was looking for you! I’m so sorry, I haven’t been able to spend that much time with you these past few days.” Her smile turned apologetic. 

“Oh, it’s okay Mona.” Virgo waved her hand. “You’re a princess, of course you’re going to be busy.” She shrugged, not really bothered by it. Even without Ramona to hand out with, she had been more than distracted with everything else, you know, between the strange Princess Tamsin to catching up with her sister and now the queen, she’d had plenty to do. 

“It’s still not okay.” Ramona insisted, taking her hands. “I thought I could make it up to you. I don’t have anything else to do today, and I managed to make an excuse to skip dinner with the other royals. I was thinking we could have a picnic for dinner tonight, just the two of us? Spend some time together now? We could go down to the beach and watch the sunset together. I’ve already had everything set up. What do you say?”

Virgo blinked a few times, startled by the intensity in Ramona’s eyes. But it only lasted a few seconds, and she softened, smiling, and feeling heat rise to her face. “That sounds amazing, Mona.” Ramona’s face lit up adorably, and she let go of one of Virgo’s hands, though she held onto the other one. Ramona started tugging Virgo down the hall, already chatting excitedly about how beautiful the beach was, and asking questions about Virgo’s day.

The two of them snuck around the palace, avoiding other people as if they weren’t supposed to be here, and giggling quietly to themselves. They probably weren’t doing a very good job of sneaking, so to speak, but no one approached them, probably didn’t expect the princess to be sneaking around with a random courtier, after all, and damn if it didn’t make Virgo feel like a kid again. She was reminded of the time she had snuck into the kitchen and eaten some of the fresh cookies the kitchen staff had made.

Once they left the palace, the journey down to the beach made her just ever so slightly nervous. Oh yeah, they were just climbing down a cliffside, nevermind the fact that there was a perfectly clear and very well traveled path, because haha anxiety is the greatest.

Ramona had set up a small blanket with just a basket of food, which was a surprise because Virgo knew that Mona loved the more extravagant things in life. The fact that she had gone so simple with the decorations meant that she had taken Virgo’s tastes into consideration, which made her heart warm. There were a few candles, but other than that, there was nothing but the natural scenery. And Ramona was right, it was stunning. The sun was getting lower into the sky, painting it in brilliant shades of orange, yellow, and red, and Ramona led her over to the blanket, picking up her skirts and sitting down. 

Virgo sat down next to her, looking out at the horizon. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore was incredibly soothing, and she could have stayed there forever, if that were possible.

Ramona pulled out a couple of dishes from the basket, all of them fairly simple. It looked more like something you’d find at a mid-afternoon tea party than anything else. But hey, Virgo wasn’t complaining. The simpler, the better, in her opinion. She leaned against Ramona’s shoulder, letting out a content sigh, feeling fulfilled. This was it, this was everything she wanted. Ramona responded by laughing softly, and when Virgo looked up, her expression was the softest thing she’d ever seen.

The two of them ate in relative silence, watching as the sun went down, though every so often Ramona would crack a joke, and the two of them would laugh, and then lapse back into the familiar comfortable quiet that wrapped around the two of them like a blanket. 

When they had finished, Virgo flopped onto her back. Stars were beginning to appear in the sky, and it wasn’t long before Ramona joined her, her tangle of dark reddish brown curls flopping all over the place. A few strands even got on Virgo’s face, though she brushed them away quickly. Virgo turned her head to the side to see that Ramona was already looking at her with adoring eyes, like she had just created a miracle, even though she had done nothing. 

The princess reached up and brushed her hand along Virgo’s cheek. “Lola said that your father used to show you the constellations. Do you know a lot about them?”

Virgo looked back up at the sky. “A little bit. I don’t know how many of them I could name, though, it’s been awhile since I went properly stargazing. I can only spot a few basic ones, like the big dipper and Orion. Sorry.” 

“No need to apologize, that’s still better than what I can do, love.” Ramona said, her voice tinged with amusement. “Lola’s been trying to teach me about them for years and I still couldn’t spot them to save my life. Apparently sailors can read the stars and use them to navigate, but I don’t know how they could accomplish that. They all look the same to me. How anyone could find a pattern in that quilt is beyond me. I had to do so much research in the library to make Lola’s shawl.” 

“I read about it too.” Virgo laughed quietly. “I used to dream of going on big adventures across the sea to distant lands. I wanted to explore places, but as I got older, my anxiety grew bigger and now… I don’t think I’d ever have the courage to do something like that.”

“Give yourself more credit, Stormy.” Ramona replied, moving her hand down and intertwining their fingers. “You are incredibly brave. This whole trip is just proof of that. One day, when we get married, I’ll take you on a tour of the world. Anywhere you want to go, we’ll go there. The world will be in the palm of your hands.” 

“I’d like that.” Virgo said dreamily. When they got married. Not if, when. Ramona was so certain this would work. Her enthusiasm was contagious. “If… we don’t know many real constellations between the two of us… why don’t we make up our own?” She suggested. “Like those stars over there always looked like a mirror to me.”

“Huh, now that you mention it, it does. That’s a wonderful idea.” Ramona laughed. The two of them lost track of time, pointing out the clusters of stars and what they looked like, similar to how another couple might watch clouds in the day. It was perfect, this was everything she needed, everything she ever wanted. It took a lot not to fall asleep again, but Virgo wasn’t going to make Ramona carry her up a cliffside. Eventually, though, Virgo had to admit that they needed to be heading back before they were missed. 

Ramona pouted, but Virgo leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, saying that they’d be able to spend plenty more time together tomorrow, and that promise was enough to get her to agree to pack up the picnic and head back. They held hands the entire time, and Ramona let Virgo walk closer to the cliff wall than the edge to make her feel more secure. Virgo could have just transported them back to her room, but this way they got to spend more time with one another, even if they were both exhausted by the time they reached the top.

Ramona walked Virgo back to her room, and the two of them hugged before Virgo entered her chambers. She was tired, and content, and felt like she was going to explode from everything she was feeling, and so fell asleep without even changing out of her gown first.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I am so sorry it has been so long since I updated. I finished two of my big project stories, and then started a new one, and between all of that, I didn't have much time to work on this fic. Sorry :)
> 
> This chapter was mostly filler, if I'm being honest. However, I did want to set up Virgo's relationship with Daniella because the girl needs a good mother in her life -_-
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading, hope you've enjoyed the story so far!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting one of my works. I'm always open to hearing feedback about my work, constructive criticism is how I grow as an author. Also: This is my first time writing a trans character. If you are trans and nb and think that there's something I should change, feel free to comment that as well.
> 
> I'll try to update this as often as possible, but if I disappear for a little bit then don't worry, I'm probably just busy. <3


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